


peter parker: into the spider-verse

by mjscorner



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spider-Man Fusion, Astral Projection, Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Awesome Natasha Romanov, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Stephen Strange, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes & Peter Parker Friendship, Canon Divergence - Doctor Strange (2016), Confused Scott Lang, Doctor Strange (2016) Spoilers, Gen, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Hurt Peter Parker, Inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Multiverse, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Post-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Sam Wilson is So Done, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Spoilers, Spider-Verse, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, The Astral Plane, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 57,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23754412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjscorner/pseuds/mjscorner
Summary: "I literally swear to god," Sam's voice boomed, glaring at each of the Spider-People with venom in his gaze, "if Parker doesn't jump out right now and tell us that we've all been super-punked, someone is getting their rib-cage inverted.""What the bird said," Tony boomed back. "Where the hell is my kid and who the hell are you?""I think I know what's going on here," the man said, rubbing a tired hand over his exhausted, wrinkled face. "My name's Peter. Peter Benjamin Parker. I think it's pretty safe to deduce that I'm from an alternate reality."Tony froze. His heart, his breath, his brain, everything. He couldn’t help but stare into this man’s soul, swallowing around the uncomfortable lump in his throat and deciding at that moment that, if there were other realities, he was in the worst one."There can not be two Peter Parker's. We already have one here, and it's awful."
Comments: 64
Kudos: 373





	1. into the spider-verse

**Author's Note:**

> it's me, back again, with another idea i've been wanting to write forever and now finally can now that senior year has been cancelled indefinitely :)  
> i haven't quite decided how many chapters i want this to be, but i know i've been thinking about all the ways i would plot this out for months now, so i'll figure something out eventually lol. enjoy <3

"Let's keep it moving guys, I've got a lot to do today."

Peter whipped his head around at the sound of another thug's giant body being slammed onto a restaurant dinner table, snapping it in half. He let out a breath of relief, though it was short lived. In a split second, some idiot was _shooting_ at him again.

" _Pete, do I really need to be on the line for this_?"

"Mister Stark?" Peter asked, flipping through the air and dodging the bullets to the best of his ability. What did it matter? The suit was bulletproof anyway. "Holy cow, I _totally_ forgot you were there. Anyway, you called me, right? I definitely didn't call you. What's hangin'?"

" _Look, Spider-Boy, I know you said that I needed to lay off on the baby monitor protocol and what-not, but I hear an awful lot of grunting and gunshots and not enough pathetic cheers of triumph coming from your end_."

"Are you kidding? I've got this, like, completely under control," Peter flipped into a sitting position on top of one of the booths of the restaurant, glancing up at the men he had managed to web up that were now dangling from the ceiling. "You know what, guys, you oughtta be ashamed of yourselves. Not only do you hijack one of the classiest places in town, but you didn't even phone ahead for a reservation!"

" _Listen, kid. I'm ju_ _st making sure you're still free to attend that, uh...Avengers gala I told you about? You know, the one they're hosting in Brooklyn tonight, practically in your honor_."

"It's not like it's a gala specifically for me," Peter started, but the conversation was cut short once more as a gunman appeared from ahead, firing rounds at Peter mercilessly. " _No_!"

Peter grunted and cried out as the bullets continued slamming against his suit, jerking his body back and forth before he ultimately fell backwards, crumbling to the ground.

Tony had clearly been retired for far too long to not get the joke.

" _Peter?! What the hell--Karen-Karen! Get me vitals, now-_ "

"Just kidding, it's bulletproof."

" _Wha-God_ _, you're such a punk_."

Peter shot back up to his feet, sending two webs out to the far corners of the room and flying right into the gunman like a slingshot. The man was sent soaring backwards, his head crashing into an aquarium tank. Peter opted to take care of the next gunman before he addressed that minor issue. But then another appeared from the kitchen dressed as a chef. And two others as waiters.

"Mr. Stark, after all this babying you've been doing to me, there's literally nothing these guys could do that would cause any lasting harm."

" _It's not babying. It's called being cautious_."

"Cautious or paranoid?"

" _Do you want me to take it away? I'll take it away. Done it before, I'll do it again_."

"Too soon. Fresh ground pepper, anyone?"

Peter knocked the chef and waiter unconscious with an all-too-large canister of pepper, easily taking down the second waiter with one of his iron spider legs.

"Alright, I'm gonna give this place one star."

He coughed, clearing away both the smoke of the gunfire and the puffy clouds of the inside of a broken fire extinguisher, snapping a web at the fish aquarium he had nearly shattered before crossing his arms, taking in the extent of the damage he had done with a satisfied smirk.

" _Are you done yet_?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What was it that you called me about again?"

" _Quit playing all forgetful with me, kid. You know_."

"Oh, right, right, right. The super important gala in my honor. I dunno, Mr. Stark, I've already turned the President down twice this week, and it's my turn to steer the yacht."

" _Very funny, Mr. Parker. Eight o'clock sharp, and please, try to find something elegant in that jungle of a closet you have. Happy and Pepper and I will be picking you up_."

"Yeah, okay. Sounds good. Bye, Mister Stark."

" _Be safe, kid. End call._ "

" _Call ended_ ," Karen said, and Peter let out a huff, rubbing the back of his neck as the police stumbled into the dining hall, guns ready to fire though they came to a halt in the threshold, looking around with wide eyes as their culprits hung uselessly from the ceiling in a cocoon of webs before their eyes all landed on Peter, who upheld his nonchalant demeanor.

"Nice save, gang!" Peter waved with a salute. "I give it a ten for dramatic value, but I'm subtracting points for your lousy sense of timing."

"Ha ha, very funny," the officer in the middle said with a roll of his eyes, placing his gun back in its holster as the other two officers followed suit. "Just tell us what you got for us, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, so," Peter hopped over to the threshold, standing in front of the officers and squinting as he analyzed the mess he had made in attempt to identify faces. "Uh...okay, yeah, so, he's the first in command, he's pretty much just a runner..."

The second officer quickly took out her notepad, looking around the room with a raised eyebrow and trying desperately to follow along with Peter's lousy descriptions.

"That's the buyer, that's the seller, and that guy's the snitch, and--oh, oh god, I'm sorry. He's not-you should probably put him in his own cell."

"Yeah."

"So," the officer with the notepad snapped it shut, glancing up and scanning Peter from head to toe. "Keepin' the fancy suit?"

"Uh..."

"You gonna be the next Iron Man?"

"Well, no, I don't have time. I'm too busy doing your jobs." 

"Woah."

"Ouch."

"Nah, look, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, but you're gonna have to do your jobs extra tonight and for a couple weeks because not only am I going to a fancy gala in my honor tonight, but _I_ am going on vacation."

"Can I still get that selfie?"

"Next time!" Peter chirped, and with that, he was outside, swinging toward his apartment as he realized with dread that it was already 6:30.

* * *

"What's this gala for again?"

" _May_ ," Peter groaned, adjusting his black tie in the mirror. "I told you, for the thousandth time, it's like a memorial gala in honor of those that fought in the battles against Thanos."

"Can you blame me for asking so much?" May shouted from the kitchen. "I mean, just listen to yourself. It sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but it's just my Parker luck," Peter stuck his tongue out as he fiddled with the loose curls on his head, glancing to the side of the mirror as May stepped inside.

"Oh, no, don't slick it back!" May lurched forward and immediately turned Peter to face her, poking her fingers through his hair with a frown and trying to style his curls properly. "Parker boys do not try to tame their curls."

"I don't want to look like some sloppy, baby-faced teenager at this gala, May! I want to prove that I can clean up well. Cap is gonna be there, May. _Cap_."

"Well, there's no fixing the baby face part. Or the sloppy part. Besides, you and Cap are, like, _tight_ , aren't you? You're bros. What is it that he calls you? Spider-Kid? Spider-Boy?"

"That's you and Mister Stark," he huffed, turning back towards the mirror and shrugging at May's handiwork. "He calls me Queens."

"Queens!" May said with a nod and a smile, standing behind Peter with pride. "How sweet."

Peter hummed, his look of seriousness returning as he began fiddling with the cuffs of his white button down. May began rubbing Peter's shoulders, to which Peter couldn't hide the way his lips tugged up in a comforted smile.

"Why do you care what anyone else thinks of you at this gala, anyway?" May raised her eyebrow, leaning over and adjusting Peter's bow tie after he had clearly given up. "You're not going as Spider-Man. You're going as Peter Parker, Tony Stark's genius intern. Who cares, you know?"

"I care," Peter pushed, avoiding May's eyes in the mirror as he threw his hands up in the air. "I do. I want to start really proving myself to the team. Half of them are, like, retired now."

"So?" she shrugged, waving a hand in the air. "You took down that mobsters undercover gang today at that restaurant. You know, what's-his-face."

"Kingpin. I call him Kingpin."

"Oh, yeah. See? You give your enemies...cute little nicknames. You'll fit in just fine. Wait, okay, what'd you do to him again?"

Peter glared at May through the mirror with a raised eyebrow, and that was enough for her to throw her hands up in a fake surrender.

"Right, sorry. Stop meddling in your vigilante life, and no more baby monitor protocols. Say no more."

Peter groaned again before his watch made a chiming noise, followed immediately by a horn honking outside of the apartment. Peter swore under his breath, glancing at this watch before spinning around to face May.

"Well? What do you think?"

"Oh, Peter," May beamed at him, adjusting his tie one more time before laying her hand on his chest and cupping his face. "It's perfect. You look so grown up."

"Really? You think so?"

"You don't look sloppy or baby-faced," she assured him, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. "As much as I wish you did."

"Thanks, May," Peter leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek in return, sliding on his tuxedo jacket and glancing back down at his watch one more time before placing his hand on May's back and slipping past her, out of the bathroom and toward the front door. "Love you, May!"

"I love you! Tell Happy I said hi!"

"Thanks! I won't."

* * *

"Hello, hello."

Peter slid into the Audi parked outside of his apartment complex, pleased to see that Tony had opted to sit in the backseat with him while Pepper sat in the passenger seat and Happy drove. Tony was immediately floored by the sight of him, nodding with an impressed grin.

"Well, well, well, Mr. Parker. You sure do clean up nicely."

"Thanks!" Peter replied, sitting up a little bit straighter with pride. "I sure hoped so. I was kinda hoping we would be dressed exactly the same. You're the only one I take fashions cues from."

"Look at you," Tony breathed with a genuine grin. "Yeah, you really are taking cues from the master now."

"Alright, we are en route to the gala," Happy informed the group, flooring it out of the neighborhood and into the depths of the city. Peter sighed, trying to relax his nerves as he glanced out the window for some kind of distraction.

"So, kid, where's the mask?"

"Where's-hm? What do you mean?"

"I thought we agreed you would be coming to this gala as Spider-Man, the newest Avenger. Protector of Midgard. Whatever you wanna call yourself."

"Uh, no, no, we never discussed that, Mr. Stark. What are you talking about?"

"Kid," Tony groaned, running a hand over his face with an exasperated sigh. "When I told you about this gala last month, I thought it was pretty clear that I was inviting Spider-Man, not my undercover intern."

"Well, that's on you for thinking I would remember anything that's happened to me in the last week, let alone month."

"Um, no, no, no," Pepper said, leaning back from her seat to look Peter up and down with a frown. "Kid, where's your mask? Tony, did you not tell him he was supposed to wear his mask to this thing? Why wouldn't you wear your mask?"

"What!" Peter gasped, a look of betrayal plastered on his face as he glanced back and forth between the two.

"Now, wait a damn minute-"

"You, too! Jeez, you know, forgive me for wanting to show my face at this thing."

"God, it's a great face," Tony grinned before shrugging in defeat. "But not the future of the Avengers, Pete. The host is expecting Spider-Man there, he was quite adamant about that. Now, everyone just cool it, alright? There's an extra suit in here, I know it."

"An extra suit? In here? You know what, no, of course there is. Why should I expect anything less?"

"Yep, here it is," Tony leaned forward and pressed a hidden button on the back of Pepper's seat, supplying a weak "ta-da" at the way the seat revealed a hidden compartment, a perfect, unused Spider-Man suit folded neatly inside. Peter scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. I'll wear the mask." He leaned forward and snatched the mask out of the compartment, sliding it over his head while mumbling under his breath, "Spider-Man in a tuxedo? Really?"

"No, no, no. No, tuxedo. Just the suit, and, you know, maybe a bowtie."

"Wha-?"

Before Peter could even think of a response, Tony was shoving the suit into Peter's hands, and a wall shot up between him and Tony. His head snapped to the window, which was also being covered by some sort of black screen.

"Tell us when you're done changing, we'll wait."

Peter groaned in annoyance, hastily throwing off his jacket, unbuttoning his shirt, and sliding out of his slacks.

_I've got the feeling that this just isn't gonna be my night._

Peter made a noise indicating that he was finished changing, closing his eyes with a groan of annoyance as the wall disappeared and Peter was earning praises from both Tony and Pepper. He looked down at himself with a scoff. 

"It's just Spider-Man but he's wearing a black suit jacket and a pathetic little black bow tie.

"Look, I'm sorry, Peter," Pepper said to him, and Peter could actually believe it when Pepper apologized to him because at least she had a _heart_. "The press needs to see you step up to the plate as the new kid on the block. Now more than ever, the people need to know they have someone they can count on to protect them.

Peter's Spider-Man eyes adjusted as he stared at Pepper, then back at Tony, who simply gestured to his wife as if to say " _yeah, kid, is that not what I said_?" 

"Well, when you put it like that..."

The ride to the gala after that remained pretty uneventful, aside from Tony's occasional questions about patrol. Tony and May must have been conspiring against him, because Kingpin came up within a few minutes of conversing.

_Why can't we just talk about Morgan? Or politics? Or literally anything else?_

"Kingpin, is it? That's an interesting name you gave him. You know, I've always admired the names you give your enemies. Vulture, Scorpion, Green Goblin, Kingpin. It's simple, down to the point. Bold, but I like it."

"That's what he is, Mr. Stark, that's what they all were."

"But why 'Kingpin'? Who even is the guy?"

"All I know is that his goons work together all the time to try to take me down," he lied. "Someone has to be rallying those troops to be that organized and in sync. They need a general."

"A kingpin," Tony deduced with a nod, humming as he glanced out the window again.

It didn't take a Spider-Sense to tell that something was gnawing at Tony.

"Listen, Pete," Tony began, his voice gentle and cautious. "I know that I'm retired from the superhero business, and I know that you don't want me babysitting you anymore, but I'm sure as hell not retiring as your mentor kid. As your mentor, you're still...you're still my kid. And, I mean, as your mentor, I really don't like the idea of you going head to head with this Kingpin guy when you've never even met the guy in person, really. Just his little armies that fight all of his battles for him. Is that what that was on the phone today? His goons ganging up against you?"

"I found _them_ , Mister Stark. Look, I can handle myself, okay? And I have met him in person before. I just...I can't talk about it with you, okay? Not yet, at least. I want to handle this on my own for the time being."

Tony frowned, and Peter couldn't miss that flash of hurt that was now plastered on his face. 

"Okay. Yeah, okay. Sorry, Pete."

Peter bit his bottom lip, sighing as he glanced back out the window.

What was once his distraction was now just a crystal clear vision.

_"You're dead, Spider-Man."_

_Peter was thrown to the ground, his eyes widening at the loud crack that followed the action. He jumped out of the way of Kingpin's giant fist, climbing up the wall and landing a solid kick to his face. He ignored the framed picture of Kingpin and his wife that shattered to the ground beneath him, instead opting to land another punch square in Kingpin's gigantic nose._

_He should've quit while he was ahead, because in a fraction of a second, Kingpin had Peter by the throat, slamming his body against the wall. Peter gasped and clawed at the giant hand wrapped around his tiny neck, eyes widening as he struggled to breathe. His legs kicked uselessly beneath him and he barely met Kingpin's crazed, bloodthirsty eyes between his eyes squeezing shut in agony to them barely opening with the little energy he had left._

_"You leave the world unprotected for five years and can't even bother to bring them back with you when you reappear? Useless!"_

_Peter was slammed back down to the ground again, retching and holding his throat delicately. He looked up at Kingpin with a glare, rage boiling inside of him until all he could see was red._

_"You lost them before the snap, Kingpin. I was there, remember? We were here, in this room, and your wife saw you for what you really are. She saw you choking me like you did just now, and she ran away with your son because she was terrified of you."_

_"No," Kingpin shook his head, the fury still etched on every line of his tired face though small traces of deep sadness began seeping their way into his beady eyes. "No, you're wrong. You don't know."_

_"I do," Peter insisted, his voice hoarse. "I do know. Your family died and you couldn't stop it. I know what that's like, okay? No amount of infinity stones could have brought them back. You have to accept that. You can stop this, Fisk. You can stop all of this."_

_Kingpin stared down at Peter, like a boot hovering over a bug. But the sadness in his eyes was quickly replaced by rage once again, and Peter couldn't stop the gasp that escaped him as Kingpin lifted two large fists above him, ready to finish the kill._

"...eter? Peter?"

Peter jumped, the eyes on his mask adjusting as he acknowledged the firm grip Tony had on his arm and the concerned eyes that were staring daggers into his soul. He blinked a few times, looking around the outside of the car. They seemed to be pulling into the venue as flashes and shouts from the paparazzi made themselves known.

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry, Mister Stark."

Tony frowned, not at all convinced that Peter was really back on planet Earth as he hesitantly released his death grip on Peter's arm. 

"Kid...Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep. Are you sure you're-?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Mister Stark," Peter assured him, though it was a blatant lie. "Just nervous. I've never been to a gala."

Tony's smile returned slowly but surely, and soon enough he was clapping a firm hand on Peter's shoulder, that familiar look of adoration making its way back to the man's face. 

"Well, it would be my honor to show you the ropes. You know, walk you through how it's done."

"Of course. I wouldn't ask anyone else."

He hoped Tony could see the grin beneath his mask.

* * *

As soon as they had entered the building, Peter Spider-Sense had been buzzing nonstop.

 _Relax_ , he told himself, _you're in a building full of superheroes that have killed dozens of people. You're being paranoid._

Still, Peter glanced around the room suspiciously as he followed Tony to the ballroom, looking up and around in awe at the glass ceiling and the dozens of crystal chandeliers. 

"Woah," Peter huffed in awe, the eyes on his mask wide. "This place is sweet."

"Sure is," Tony agreed, taking off his glasses and pocketing them as they followed one of the waiters to their table. "Though, I gotta say, as far as the attire for the staff, it's pretty poor taste. I mean, get a load of the way they're dressed.

Peter did. It was _very_ poor taste. Every single staff member that was wandering around the ballroom was wearing some sort of plastic mask along with their white shirts and bow ties, from the Hulk, to Iron Man, to Captain America, to Thor, and even to Spider-Man.

"Careful, Webhead, I might just mistake you for the waiter at this shindig."

"Not funny."

"Tony!"

As Peter, Tony, Happy, and Pepper reached their table, they glanced over to see Steve sitting at the table adjacent to them, already making strides toward them with a glass of champagne in one hand and his other hand extended. 

"Well, well, well, Mr. Good and Righteous," Tony beamed, ignoring Steve's hand and going straight for an embrace. Even Peter was surprised at that. "Very nice to see you again. I see you brought along the circus troupe."

Steve rolled his eyes with a knowing smile and stepped to the side until his table came into view, seated by Sam, Bucky, Clint, Wanda, Vision, Scott, and Hope. They all smiled and waved at Peter and Tony before returning to whatever conversation they had been having. Steve turned back to the two, clapping a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"It's good to see you here, Queens. How've you been?"

"Terrific," Peter supplied, hoping it didn't come off as dripping with sarcasm. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Just happy to be here tonight, sir."

"C'mon, it's Steve, kid," Tony said, nudging Peter in the arm. Peter somehow caved deeper into himself.

"Call me whatever you want, Queens. As long as it isn't anything Tony here has called me before."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Say, Cap, we need to have another cookout soon, you hear me? It's already been a month since our last one, and Morgan misses your shield."

"I hear you, Tony. You set the date and we're there. It was good talking to you two."

"Likewise."

Steve nodded with a smile before turning on a dime back to his table, resuming his seat between Sam and Bucky. Peter glanced at Tony, then back at Steve, then back at Tony.

"That was..."

"Can it, Spider-Boy, we're still getting there."

"No, no, I'm actually impressed, Mr. Stark," Peter assured him. Tony glanced down at Peter, warmth in his gaze that Peter was still trying to get used to. "I mean it. You've both come a long way from bringing in walking tanks to do the talking for you."

Tony frowned with a scoff at that, turning around and leading Peter to their table. Peter was relieved to see familiar faces there; Happy and Pepper, obviously, but seated along with the two were Rhodey, Natasha, Carol, and Thor. Bruce had a seat pulled up between the group pathetically, his body too large to suffice an actual spot at a table of eight, perhaps.

 _But damn, people came back from other realms for this thing_?

"Spider-ling!" Thor's voice boomed as he stood from his seat excitedly, rounding the table and crushing Peter in a hug. Peter choked on a yelp of surprise, bringing hesitant arms up to hug the thunder god back.

"H-Hey, there...buddy!" Peter gasped, patting Thor's back awkwardly. Thor set the kid down, stumbling back a few steps as the two of them regained their footing. Luckily, Tony was there to offer some back support for the kid, steadying him before he could fall flat on his face.

"It is quite good to see you here," Thor continued, slamming a hand down on Peter's shoulder and earning another cry of surprise from the teenager. Peter nodded eagerly, rubbing his now-aching shoulder and squinting up at him. 

"It seems that sometimes when we get tipsy, we forget the full extent of our super-strength, huh, big guy?" Tony supplied, taking Thor by the shoulders and spinning him around. Thor seemed to get the message, making a beeline back to his seat. "C'mon, underoos, siddown."

Peter obliged, collapsing into the empty seat beside Happy as Tony took the vacant seat next to the kid, sitting beside Rhodey. 

"I honestly wasn't sure you would show, Tones," Rhodey murmured, though Peter could hear with his enhanced senses regardless. "The host seemed pretty adamant about not serving food to all of these enhanced superheroes until everyone was here, and you two are it."

"So he has class," Tony shrugged, adjusting his suit jacket as he got situated in his seat. "I would be waiting for Iron Man and Spider-Man, too. We are the life of the party, after all, right, kiddo?"

At some point, while Peter was listening to Rhodey and Tony's voices, his Spider-Sense began buzzing again, making his face scrunch up in annoyance. It must have shown in the eyes of Peter's mask, because Tony was holding Peter's arm firmly again.

"Kid? You still with me?"

Peter shook himself out of it, or at least attempted to. He brought a hand to his neck and rubbed at the back of it, looking around the ballroom.

"I dunno. Something isn't right."

"What, kid, are you upset that they don't serve apple juice at this function?"

The eyes of Peter's mask narrowed at Rhodey's remark, which really only seemed to feed into the guy's satisfaction, but Peter let it slide, instead turning around and gripping the back of his chair as he took in the ballroom.

"Hey, c'mon, kid. I'm sure you're just feeling nervous again."

Peter started from the far back of the ballroom, spotting Peter Quill, Rocket, Groot, Drax, and Nebula seated there. 

"What is it, your, uh...Peter Tingle? Yeah, I'm sure that's just giving you a hard time, you know?"

Then, closer to the front, he saw the Wakandan royal family seated at one of the larger tables.

"You've been under a lot of stress lately, kid. You can't exactly rely on your powers to do all of the thinking for you."

Doctor Strange had a table with Wong and what he assumed to be other wizards. He remembered seeing them on the battlefield.

"You know, you've got this field trip to Europe to be looking forward to, and I can't imagine how school must be for you, you know, now that things are finally beginning to simmer into some kind of normalcy."

Even Nick Fury and Maria Hill were seated at a table with other agents. Why on _earth_ were his senses dialed to a million?

"I don't know, kid. I mean, at least until you get back from Europe, you should take a break from Spider-Manning. You could, uh...take 'er easy, y'know, just this once."

That's when he saw it.

On the sides of the dinner carts that the staff began to wheel into the ballroom, on the white cloth draped down the side, bold text ran along the edge of the fabric, sending ice shooting through his veins.

**_FISK INDUSTRIES: BENEFACTOR OF ALCHEMAX & OSCORP_ **

"Oh, my god."

"Kid?"

"Mister Stark," Peter turned back toward the table, sending Tony a death stare though Tony probably couldn't see it. "Who is hosting this gala?"

"Honestly? I have no clue," Tony snickered at himself, earning an eye roll from Rhodey. 

"Shows how useful you are," Natasha muttered from her side of the table, and for just a moment Peter forgot there were other people seated there.

"Whoever it is, they do quite a lousy job of serving their guests," Thor huffed, glancing at a nonexistent watch on his wrist. "I mean, how long have we been here? Two hours?"

"Like, thirty minutes," Carol corrected with a roll of her eyes and a smile. 

"Feels like ages," Bruce chimed in, glancing at his _real_ watch with a sigh. "Do they realize how many enhanced people are attending this gala? C'mon, Pete, you gotta be dying, too."

"Does _anyone_ at this table know who is hosting this gala?" Peter repeated, hoping someone could sense the seriousness in his tone. 

"Fisk, kid," Pepper leaned forward and said to him with a smile, rolling her eyes at the others seated at their table. "Wilson Fisk, of Fisk Industries."

Peter faced the table straight on, his hands laying flat on the surface of it, staring numbly ahead. 

_He didn't need this. He couldn't be here. He did not need this._

"Kid, seriously, what's going on?"

Whoever was talking to him, it was going in one ear and out the other in a blur, because he could suddenly only hear one thing bouncing around the corners of his skull.

_"The host is expecting Spider-Man there. He was quite adamant about that."_

He was going to be sick.

Before he could muster up some kind of explanation for Tony, everyone in the room was clapping. Peter turned with wide eyes to the stage, which was now being occupied by an incredibly large man in a tuxedo, standing at a tiny podium and waving off the applause with his large hands.

The same hands that Peter could see every time he closed his eyes, slamming down on top of him, crushing him, keeping him from _breathing_ -

"Thank you, thank you," his voice boomed throughout the ballroom, and Peter's entire body tensed up instantly at the sound of it echoing off of the large walls. "It's nice to be here with you this evening to celebrate the Avengers and all that they fought for. I like to think that we're close, the Avengers and I. They saved us, all of us, did they not?"

Several civilians laughed and clapped their hands gracefully at that, looking around the room and beaming at the heroes. Steve and a few others waved in return.

"Mister Stark," Peter said, barely above a whisper, but Tony heard it, leaning forward though he kept one eye on Fisk. 

"Talk to me, kid. What's going on?"

"This man," Peter started, swallowing thickly and choosing his next words very, _very_ carefully. "This man is not who you think he is, Mr. Stark."

"How do you mean...?"

"Wilson Fisk, he's Kingpin."

Tony glanced up at the stage with a raised eyebrow, then back to Peter, concern etched onto his face.

"Kid...Wilson Fisk? This guy, he's too high profile."

"There's a very large possibility that he is manufacturing a deadly black hole underneath this very building. There's a reason he wanted me here, Mr. Stark. We need to get the civilians out of here as soon as possible."

"Peter, it's...it's not that I don't believe you, kid, I do, but...why here? Why now? Why would he do this tonight, with all of us here? He knows we could stop him."

"I don't-I don't _know_ , Mr. Stark, I just-I can feel it. I know he's planning something big. He was adamant about having me here, you said so yourself."

"He was adamant about having all of us here, kid. We kinda saved everyone's asses."

"I, uh..." Peter swallowed again, lifting a ghost-like hand up to his throat before shooting to his feet, ignoring the way his chair skidded behind him in the process. "I need some air."

"Kid-"

Peter was already walking in long strides toward the exit, ignoring the way the staff there seemed to stare at him, seemed to follow him out of the ballroom.

He didn't make it very far.

"And I just want to especially thank our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man for being here with us tonight." 

He stopped dead in his tracks, his heart thudding loudly in his ears. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room staring daggers into him as he slowly turned to face Fisk on the stage. He was smiling at him in an odd, amused kind of way, like he was feeding off both Peter's embarrassment and fear.

"What's wrong, Spider-Man?"

His voice...he was _taunting_ him. He was thoroughly enjoying the way Peter was being singled out, humiliated, horrified.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I.." What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to _do_? "I'm just-It's, uh, great to be here." He forced out an awkward, strangled chuckle. "Really great."

Peter's gaze trailed over to his table, where Tony was slowly standing, staring at the kid in anticipation and concern and _confusion_.

"Excuse me," Peter breathed out, hopefully loud enough for those who cared to hear, before all but stumbling out of the ballroom in a frenzy. He could still distantly hear Kingpin's voice booming in the ballroom, captivating his audience with lies.

"There you have it," he heard him say. "Spider-Man and I, we're very close. I was thrilled to hear he was made the newest Avenger, and I'm just sorry my family can't see what we're doing here tonight."

Tony sank back into his seat, staring at the man on stage with a distinct feeling of uneasiness.

"Shit."

* * *

After Peter made a fool of himself stumbling out of that ballroom, he had only one thing on his mind.

If no one was going to believe him about the black hole that was about to be opened beneath the city, he was going to destroy it before it could be.

"Karen, talk to me."

"Hello, Peter. Kingpin has a private elevator entrance from his penthouse to the collider below. This would be the safest route to the machine, though it is heavily guarded."

"Cool, cool, cool," Peter breathed out, finally finding a hallway where he could be alone before climbing up to the ceiling and being as stealthy as he could given the current circumstances. "So, okay, no biggie. I just need to destroy Kingpin's big machine before the space time continuum collapses, and then I'll go back to eating dinner with Mr. Stark and the Avengers." Peter cracked his neck a few times, his voice diminishing to a whisper as he approached Kingpin's private elevator. "No biggie at all."

Peter perched himself right above the elevator, rolling his eyes at the two meatheads guarding it. Underneath those suits and sunglasses, they were probably nothing but flab. He groaned in annoyance, flipping down to the ground. He landed a punch and kicked the other, and before he knew it, both were on the ground, completely unconscious. He shrugged at the men before kicking the elevator doors and fist pumping the air in triumph as the doors caved, falling deep down to the bottom of the elevator tunnel. He dove down, his eyes adjusting to the growing darkness until he finally reached the floor of the lab.

He had only ever been here once before, though the collider had barely even been constructed yet. It was before Thanos and the snap, but he had come to spy on Fisk when he spotted Norman Osborn sauntering into his penthouse one day and had Ned listen in on the stakeout.

He had clearly already dug his grave, having literally dived headfirst into Kingpin's evil lair, though now that it was constructed, it was enough to make Peter stop completely still in his tracks at the sight of it, nearly falling to his death.

Peter was now standing in a huge, white dome, two enormous gun-like machines stationed at either end of it. There was still clearly construction going on around the machines, but across the dome, there was also a visible laboratory, fully staffed with people in white lab coats. Peter could hear the tapping of their keyboards from where he was standing.

God, they were going to test it. Tonight.

_Mr. Stark. Pepper. Happy._

Peter was leaping into action without a second thought, scaling the wall of the dome as inconspicuously as he could manage. 

"Hey, Karen, now would probably be a good time to ask if Ned ever ended up finishing that goober we were talking about?"

"Yes, Peter. This may be your first time in this particular suit, but I have a digital version of the override key that Ned developed in my systems. I can walk you through the process of activating it here in the collider after I scan to find the kill switch."

"Yes, very good," Peter nodded with a deep voice. "We make a good trio of spies, you, Ned, and I."

"I agree full-heartedly."

Before Peter could make up another pathetic one liner to fill the silence, his Spider-Sense was buzzing so loudly in his ear that he almost lost his grip on the wall of the dome. He tensed up as a sudden _whoosh_ beneath him nearly sent him falling to his death, eyes widening as he searched around for the source.

His heart leapt to his throat at the sight of remarkably larger Green Goblin flying mindlessly around the dome, no doubt in search of Peter.

"Uh, Karen?! You wouldn't to know why Norman Osborn is much, _much_ bigger and uglier than I remember him being, would you?"

"It appears that his DNA has been altered once again. He must have undergone another round of the Green Goblin serum he developed at Oscorp in order to maximize his senses and abilities."

Norman suddenly crashed into the wall beside Peter, wrapping the boy up in his clawed hand and roaring violently in his face, his long, purple, slobbery tongue licking at him in the process.

"Okay, well, this is obnoxious. Even for me."

Peter managed to get one arm free in time to shoot a glob of webbing right in Norman's beady red eye. The beast cried out in rage in enough time for Peter to make his escape, stringing his webbing to the ceiling and swinging to the opposite wall. He steadied himself, ready to take another blow from Norman, but his senses grinded to a halt and then picked right back up again, this time warning him of a new threat. 

The room shook. The machine began to whir. The gears behind it began to spin.

_No, no, no._

"Okay, Karen, we've gotta make it to that kill switch right now. I can't wait anymore, here."

"Yes, Peter. I have located the kill switch. It is at the top of the dome structure in a disguised hatch."

Peter squinted, nodding as Karen highlighted the hatch through his mask. His heart thudding loudly and his senses buzzing endlessly were starting to be the only thing he could hear at all.

He used the spinning gear-like structures to his advantage, hitching a ride on one of them until he was close enough to the ceiling to latch on. He crawled around rather mindlessly, banging his fist around until he hit something hollow.

"Here...Oh, no, no, okay, it's here."

Peter tore the hatch open, being met with a motherboard-like piece of equipment. He analyzed it to the best of his ability, though he knew in reality that the longer he stared at it, the more information Karen was getting from it.

 _God bless Tony Stark's suits_.

"Well, K?"

"Okay, Peter, here is what you need to do. There is a wire-"

Peter didn't quite get to hear the rest of that story, crying out in surprise as Norman made a gruesome comeback, knocking right into him and sending him flying far away from the kill switch.

" _Right_ when I was in the middle of something-!"

Norman hurled Peter across the dome, sending him flying into the gears of the machine. Luckily, he was small enough to fit in a tiny sliver of space, enough with which he wasn't harmed by the persistent spinning of the collider above him. He lifted an arm and stopped the machine from spinning, taking a fraction of a second to be impressed with himself before he paid undivided attention to Norman.

"You know, Norman, we're not that different, you and I."

Peter shot a web at Norman, sucking himself out of the gears and landing a kick to Normans giant nose.

"I mean, we're both just a couple of laboratory-bred duplicates, trying to live our lives."

At Norman's roar of frustration, Peter landed another glob of webbing to the man's tongue, unable to fight the amused grin spreading on his face as Norman stuck out his long, disgusting tongue, clawing away at it to rid himself of the webs. 

"The only remarkable difference about you and I is our looks, man. You oughtta take a page out of my book and go for a mask, cause you're no beauty contest winner."

Peter's senses grinded to a halt yet again, whirring back to life and suddenly he found himself whirling around toward the windows of the laboratory, heart beating completely still at the sight of a particular obese looking man making his way to the front of the glass.

"Spider-Man," his voice somehow managed to boom, even from the distance he was at. "You broke my elevator, you know."

"Kingpin," he growled, perching himself up on the ceiling and keeping one eye on Norman, who continued scratching as his tongue pathetically. "You know, I have one question. You invite Earth's-no-the _universes_ mightiest heroes to your fancy little party, and decide to do this in the same night. I mean, do you ever take a moment to think? A gala, that you know a bunch of superheroes are going to frequent, and you think, ' _that's_ the place I wanna rip off next'? Let me ask you, and be honest, are you just stupid? Or really, really stupid?"

"Oh, on the contrary, Spider-Man. I've got everyone and everything exactly the way I want."

Peter glared. "What are you _doing_ , Fisk?"

"You like my new toy?" he asked, clicking his pen persistently. He must've known somehow that it was driving Peter's enhanced hearing crazy, because he kept at it throughout his entire pathetic, evil monologue. "Cost me a fortune, but hey, can't take it with you, right?"

"Yeah, it's a crazy expensive way for things to end," Peter had to shout to be heard. "I mean, even for Brooklyn, that's gotta be expensive."

Kingpin smirked, and Peter must've been so captivated by him that he didn't seem to notice that Norman was once again barreling toward him, wrapping his claws around him and slamming him down against the collider, licking his face again.

"Oh, god, so gross," Peter retched, squirming in Norman's hold. He squinting, his eyes landing on Kingpin in the lab and a knowing dread seeping into his veins.

"You came all this way," Kingpin started, glancing around at the dozens of scientists and computers before him. "Watch the test."

Peter managed to get himself in a position on his stomach, his bent arms holding him up beneath Norman's claws. He continued to glare at the man regardless, watching his every move like he was under a microscope.

"It's a hell of a freaking light show, you're gonna love this."

Kingpin reached over and slammed a fat finger down on one of the keyboards. The collider began to whir to life, an incredible, hot white light begin to glow from within.

The whole building shook. Peter wondered if Tony and the others had half a mind to start evacuating the people already.

* * *

Tony hadn't touched a single bite of his food since Peter had left.

Instead, his leg bounced anxiously as he continually glanced from the doors, to Steve, to Rhodey, and back to the doors again. 

"Look, man," Rhodey started, his mouth half-full. "I'm sure the kid is just...you know, going through puberty or whatever kids his age do."

"No, I don't think so."

"What is it?" Bruce asked from across the table, the gigantic plate already empty after only five minutes of it being there. "His Spider-Sense? What's got him in such a funk?"

"I know, but I don't know."

"Well isn't that just insightful."

"Tony, maybe you should go look for him," Pepper chipped in, casting a worried glance back to the doors. "He's been gone for twenty minutes now."

"Yeah," Tony agreed, though there was something keeping him glued to his seat that he _hated_. "He's just-he's really insisting that I stay out of it, and I want to respect that."

"Since when do you take orders from teenagers?" Natasha asked, taking another bite of potatoes and gesturing her head toward the door. "And besides, what could he possibly be keeping from you? Don't you monitor literally everything he does?"

"I do, I just don't watch it as often as I used to," Tony sighed, rubbing a hand over his exhausted face, holding his head in his hands with his elbows on the table. "Look, I'm not just letting him do whatever he wants. I lost him to Thanos, and I really don't want to lose him again to something stupid like...lack of trust."

Still, Tony cast another concerned glance back to the doors, his leg bouncing again as he looked at Steve, then Rhodey, then the doors, then Steve-

"Would it really be such an invasion of privacy to just go make sure he's alive? Look, you know we all love the kid, Tony, but he's out there right now in a Spider-Man suit and a bow tie, and he's clearly pretty shaken up by something. Deep down, he wants you to check on him."

Before Tony could respond, he turned back to the doors only to be immediately greeted by Steve, standing mere inches away from his seat.

"Tony, something's not right."

The ground below them began to rumble, the chandeliers above them rattling, and it was enough to send Tony shooting up to his feet, abandoning his chair and turning to Steve.

"Get the civilians out of here," Tony ordered, activating his wrist gauntlet. "Something tells me my kid had something to do with that."

"Alright, everybody evacuate!" Steve's voice boomed, and in a split second the civilians were walking as briskly and gracefully as they could out of the ballroom, picking up the pace as another rumble shook the entire building what felt like to its core.

"FRIDAY," Tony started, sliding his glasses back onto his face as he pushed his way through the crowd of shimmering gowns and tuxedos. "Talk to me."

"Wilson Fisk appears to have a private elevator entrance from his penthouse to the collider below."

"A what to the what?" Tony shook his head, turning right outside of the ballroom and jogging down the long hallway. There were people everywhere, and _dammit, Steve, why couldn't you let me leave before you decided to evacuate everyone all at once_ _?_

"Wilson Fisk has a nearly fully-developed Collider below this structure. The Collider is meant to connect parallel universes and bring together many different realities into one single universe by circulating beams of protons traveling in opposite directions near the speed of light, colliding the beams together."

"Okay," Tony breathed a curse, walking around like a chicken with its head cut off. "So, how do I get to it, is my kid near it, and what happens if it's activated with all of us in here?"

"I can't say specify the extent of damage that is possible, but I have a direct route to Fisk's laboratory, and I can confirm that Mr. Parker is very much so near the collider, along with Norman Osborn."

If that didn't send Tony stumbling, the next rumble of the building did, knocking him to his hands and knees. He gasped out in surprise, horror numbing his senses at the intensity of the earthquake.

_Mr. Parker is very much so near the collider._

Peter.

* * *

Peter groaned under the hold of Norman's claws, crying out in pain as Norman squeezed until he clawed a gash into Peter's side.

Spider-Man, born through Norman Osborn, and it was at his claws that he was about to die.

"The irony here is not lost on me, you know."

"Don't be too rough, Norman," Kingpin warned from the windows as almost every scientist in the room began crowding around the glass windows, gazing out at the whirring collider in awe. "I gave him a front-row seat for a reason."

Tony stumbled into the threshold of the laboratory with wide eyes, his gaze first landing on the crowd of people congesting the limited window space.

He didn't have to wonder for long what they were staring at because then, as he glanced out the window of the lab, he saw Peter, stuck underneath the claws of a beast he quickly deduced to be Norman Osborn.

No, no, no, no, _no_.

"That's my kid," Tony whispered, as if to himself, before suddenly his whole body tensed up, the lenses of his glasses zooming in to get a better look.

And there was no mistaking it then. No smoke and mirror tricks, nothing. Peter was being held down on some gigantic, stupid machine that was whirring to life, by some disgusting, ginormous beast with razor sharp claws digging into the kid's sides, in this ridiculous, life threatening laboratory.

The eyes of Peter's mask were wide as the kid shook his head violently as the walls of the dome he was trapped inside of began lighting up like a football stadium.

Tony realized, with a distinct, paternal aching in his chest, that Peter was tiny in Norman Osborn's claws.

"That's my kid!" Tony roared, stumbling down the remaining steps to the window and swatting away any lab-coated individuals that stood in his way. "Out of the way! _That's my kid_!"

Peter's head snapped up at the familiar voice, his face draining of even more color than it had before as the walls of the white dome began to light up with blinding intensity.

"Peter-!"

"Stark," Kingpin greeted, watching in amusement as Tony stared with a pale face and wide eyes at the sight before him. "We've been waiting for you to get here. I think you'll take interest in what I've been working on."

Peter was numb. Everything he was afraid of happening was happening and he couldn't stop it from happening and _what the hell was happening_?!

 _Parker luck_ , he deduced.

He shook himself out of his head as the dome was now completely covered in white light. This was only the beginning, he knew. This wasn't even the worst of it.

"No! No, don't do this!" Peter cried out, ducking as a pool of Norman's slobber dropped down onto his head. "Stop! You don't know what it can do! You'll kill us all!"

The world seemed to grind to a halt as a projector-like machine began lowering itself painfully slow between the two machines in the dome.

"Fisk, listen to me!" Peter cried, and finally Kingpin glanced down at Peter like the insect he thought he was. Peter was looking up at him sadly, and it showed even with the mask and the stupid bow tie and suit jacket on. "This could open a black hole under Brooklyn. It can't be worth the risk. I know what you're trying to do..."

Tony glanced between his kid and the mobster, readying his gauntlet so that he could shoot the son of the bitch _right in the brain_ -

"...And it won't work. They're gone."

Kingpin leaned forward, and Peter could've sworn he felt Kingpin's disgusting breath against his ear at the biting words.

"You're about to be, too."

Peter glared as if to say "I give up," at this point unashamed to admit that he had. Tony's brain short-circuited, his heart in his throat as he turned to Kingpin with his gauntlet held out warningly.

"Shut it down, Fisk. Now!"

Kingpin didn't bother gracing the demand with eye contact. Instead, he smirked, not once taking his eyes off of his creation.

And then the world was ending.

The collider began shooting out great beams of light and color, causing the entire facility to shake violently. Tony wasted only a moment staring at it in horror before he was staring at Peter, who was _also_ staring at it in horror, before Tony decided to shoot the idiot who dared to hurt his kid.

Kingpin was faster. At the sound of Tony's gauntlet whirring to fire, he grabbed Tony's hand in his, twisting his arm until the gauntlet crushed underneath his hold.

Peter felt a sudden buzzing in his skull as Norman began pressing his head harder and harder into the metal surface below, though this buzzing was the kind that Peter absolutely loved, because it wasn't exactly a warning for him.

It was a warning for whoever his enemy was.

"Hey, Norm. What's your take on head trauma?"

Norman snapped his giant horned-head toward said head trauma too late as a panel from the ceiling came loose, slamming onto Norman's skull and sending the beast falling to the ground.

"I tried to warn you, pal," Peter shrugged, leaping from the tip of the collider and making his way back up to the kill switch as quickly as he could manage.

"Just as I had to watch the ones I cherished most be killed by your annoying insect of a kid, I want you to watch as your kid gets his _head_ ripped off by Norman Osborn himself," Kingpin hissed, pressing Tony's forehead against the glass so that Tony had no choice but to look.

Except Peter wasn't where he was anymore.

And neither was Norman.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Peter swung himself up to the ceiling of the dome, not noticing as Norman shot up in the blink of an eye.

"Peter! _Move_!"

"Wha-?"

Peter let out a cry of surprise as Norman wrapped his claws around Peter's waist, catching him before he could reach the ceiling and instead squeezing him in his claws. Peter yelled out in pain.

Tony watched uselessly. Pathetically. Unable to do a single thing.

His worst nightmare come to life.

Just as Tony thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, Norman began spiraling down toward the proton beam, sending Peter straight into the giant beam of light being cast at light speed in both directions. 

" _Kid!_ "

"Goblin, NO!"

Norman simply flew in place, holding Peter into the stream of light as a cloud of pitch black began filling the center of the beam, all around Peter. Norman continued roaring at a useless Peter, squeezing tighter and tighter, completely oblivious to the cries of agony being made by the kid.

"Norman, _get him out of there_! You're gonna ruin the entire experiment!"

" _Peter! **PETER**!"_

And suddenly, Peter could see, hear, and feel everything all at once.

" _Wilson? Where are we?_ "

" _Ben! Please, no!"_

" _I could be your guy in the chair._ "

_Wha...?_

" _The hardest choices require the strongest wills_."

" _Peter, your parents...they weren't civilians._ "

" _Richard, don't look_ _...Wilson, please, what are you doing?!_ "

_Please, I don't want to go again. Please._

" _If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it_."

" _Miles?_ "

" _Nice work, kid_."

" _I don't wanna go, sir, please._ "

_Make it stop. Make it stop._

" _Pete, meet Morgan._ "

" _I'm not as good at anything as I am when I'm doing it next to you._ "

" _I've got you, kid. I've got you_."

_I've got you._

" **NO!** "

And just like that, Peter's world was exploding again, sending him shooting toward the endless cosmos of spiderwebs before him until he could register nothing but complete and utter darkness.


	2. let's do this one last time

" _Peter! Move!_ "

 _"Get him outta there!_ "

Tony sat up slowly, his eyes squeezed shut.

" _Peter_!"

" _You're gonna ruin the entire experiment, Goblin!_ "

He couldn't feel anything. He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, he wouldn't be able to see anything either.

" _Turn off the collider! Shut it down_!"

" _It's too unstable_ -!"

**_BOOM!_ **

Upon opening his eyes, he really did think he had gone blind.

Smoke and sudden darkness were inhibiting Tony's vision as he blinked hard, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. The warm blood of a gash on his forehead made itself known in the process and he hissed in pain, struggling to get up on his knees and wiping away at his bloody fingers. He was able to stable himself on a nearby desk, leaning over it and heaving deep gasps in an attempt to further steady himself.

He acknowledged for a moment that he couldn't feel his right arm. There was blood in his ears, in his eyes. That panicked, uneasy, lurching feeling that he was supposed to be looking for something, for someone, that had been gnawing at him ever since he had regained consciousness was now crashing into him like a wave, and he was nearly falling back down to his knees as the wide eyes of a particular Spider-Kid's mask were now tattooed to the back of his eyelids. 

When he was finally able to see clearly, he wished so badly that he had just been blind.

What was once a billion-dollar invention beneath Kingpin's penthouse was now whirring to sleep after having exploded in a flurry of colors and shapes, smoke puffing out of its blasters every which way. Sparks were being spewed from the inside of it as it finally died, and for a microscopic moment there was complete stillness.

_No. Please, please no._

Then, Tony was moving.

"Peter," Tony mumbled under his breath, letting out a small cough as the sickly sweet smell stumbling over broken glass and nearly tripping over a few of Kingpin's employees. He grimaced in disgust at the sight of Kingpin himself. Tony wasted only a second debating whether or not he should kill him on the spot with the extra wrist gauntlet he had before he reached the now-shattered window of the laboratory, overlooking the dome in horror.

The collider, or, at least, what was left of it, was almost completely destroyed, with burn marks streaking the long sides of it. Tony's heart sank, climbing over the frame of the laboratory window and sliding down the side of the dome to the ground. There were large mountains of rubble from the ceiling above, and Tony got lightheaded at the thought of Peter being somewhere in it.

"Peter," he repeated, a bit louder. He drunkenly wandered around the debris, pulling away the large octagon pieces of the ceiling in both hope and dread that Peter would be laying there underneath it, a little hurt but ultimately alive.

His luck was beginning to run out.

"Peter!" he was crying out at the top of his lungs now, searching among the dust and the rock and the metal and what looked like one of Norman's gigantic, broken claws. He kicked the claw absentmindedly as he searched, though what he found underneath the claw made his heart leap to his throat.

A bow tie and a suit jacket.

Tony fell to his knees, picking them both up and holding them with trembling hands. He looked away for a moment, glancing up at the ceiling and fighting the way his eyes began to barely gloss over with tears.

He knew this feeling very distinctly. He felt it when he had to stare at Peter's ashes and the red dirt of Titan stuck to his hands.

He took deep, steadying breaths, swallowing thickly in a vein attempt to prevent a panic attack from coming along. He was far more susceptible to them now than compared to the last five years, and if he panicked now he knew that Peter would never be found.

"He's gone."

Tony looked ahead with rage at the sound of Kingpin's booming voice before he was slowly turning his head over his shoulder up to the laboratory. Kingpin was holding himself up on the frame of the window, a sick smirk tracing its way onto his face. He gestured to the collider with his head.

"You really are attached to the insect, aren't you?"

"There are some things in my life you just don't touch if you want to walk away with you spine intact."

Kingpin spared a conceited simper Tony's way, glancing back and forth at his broken creation.

"Well, he ruined the experiment and likely killed Norman, but hey, I'll just rebuild another collider. Hire another moron. I refuse to interfere when someone exterminates a spider for me."

Tony was raising his wrist gauntlet before he could think, the taste of metal filtering its way into his mouth as he drilled a bloodthirsty gaze up at the mobster. The satisfying sound of his gauntlet whirring to life only lit the outraged fire beneath him, though someone else was faster.

_**THUNK!** _

His eyes widened as Kingpin crumbled to the ground, Steve standing behind him in his fall. He was looking down at the mobster in satisfaction, adjusting his shield on his forearm before he met Tony's eyes, who nodded gratefully.

"What've we got here, Tony?"

Tony turned back to the tie and jacket on the ground before clearing his throat, digging his glasses out of his suit pocket and squinting as his eyes adjusted to the glitching eye-wear.

"Uh, insane evil scientist tries to play god," Tony supplied, raising himself up on his two feet. He looked up in annoyance as he saw both Steve's circus troupe and his own filtering into the lab behind him. "And now, I need you to help me lead a search party."

"Alright, nothing we can't handle."

"Just, uh...everyone, just get down here. Please."

Steve slid down the side of the dome, followed by Sam, Bucky, Clint, and Natasha. Tony glanced back up to the lab to see that Scott and Bruce had stayed in the lab, investigating the remains of the blueprints and computers.

"This the thing that caused that explosion?" Clint asked, kicking away stones as he looked around with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, uh...yeah. It's some kind of proton blaster. It was made to...I don't know. Combine realities. But that's not important right-"

"Seriously?" Steve interrupted with a raised eyebrow, looking up and around at the large, gun-like machines. "Looks a lot like Scott's old time machine, but bigger."

"Who would've thought he was doing all of this while we were eating dinner," Sam scoffed.

" _Peter_ thought. And I need help-"

"Not very inconspicuous," Bucky observed, and something inside of Tony snapped.

"Everyone zip it!"

A hush fell upon those present, and Tony immediately felt the guilt weighing heavy on him as the tension grew uncomfortably.

"Tony, where's the kid?" Natasha asked carefully, and Tony was numb again, slowly bending down to pick up the tie and jacket he had discarded on the ground beside Norman's broken claw. He turned to face them as they finally made their way to him, brain fumbling to come up with some sort of explanation.

"Tony..." Steve started, stepping forward with his eyes glued to the clothing in Tony's hands before he made harsh eye contact with him. "What the hell happened down here?"

"He tried to warn us," Tony mumbled, hoping Steve was the only one that could hear. "He tried to warn us, and then we didn't do anything."

"Stop, Tony, we couldn't have known-"

"No, we _did_ know!" Tony snapped, holding onto Peter's jacket with a white-knuckle grip beneath his gauntlet. "He warned us, and I wouldn't believe him, and then he came down here by himself and tried to stop him."

He scoffed at himself and turned away from them, rubbing at his temple with his free hand and shaking his head. He opened his eyes and couldn't help the new surge of annoyance that overcame him as his glasses continued glitching.

"Dammit, Fri, get me a heat signature."

" _Searching, boss. Systems are partially damaged from the explosion._ "

Tony sighed, turning back to face them as they all looked on worriedly. He shook his head at himself, approaching them slowly.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he breathed out, closing his eyes in defeat as Steve clapped a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I just...I had one job, Cap. And I fucked it up again, even after Thanos."

"You didn't," Steve assured, and Tony wanted to strangle him for a moment because _what did he know?_ "We don't know that he's gone. He could still be here somewhere. We owe it to him to look."

"Yeah," Tony huffed out with a nod, opening his eyes and looking up and around, anywhere but Steve's eyes. "Yeah."

"This thing an LHC?"

They turned at the sound of Bruce's voice, who was flicking one of the computer monitors with his large finger and smiling a bit as the screen finally lit up.

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that."

"A Large Hadron Collider," Scott supplied from the window, making his way over to Bruce. "Looks like it had a CMS, too."

"How come it blew?" Bruce shouted, his eyebrows furrowed as he lifted an unconscious scientist out of their desk chair and took their place. "Looks like they were only doing a test run."

"Peter," Tony started, clearing his throat in an attempt to be louder. "Peter got caught in it."

Everyone in the lab looked up at that.

"What do you mean he 'got caught' in it?" Scott scoffed. "That makes no sense."

"I mean that Norman Osborn flew up from the ground, grabbed him out of thin air, and held him into the proton beam, and I was standing right where you're standing, completely useless, and Kingpin wouldn't turn the damn thing off, and it blew up. That's what I mean."

The group was silent at that, looking around awkwardly at the outburst. Natasha seemed to be the only one unfazed by it.

"That doesn't mean that he _died_ , alright? He's probably somewhere around here."

" _Boss, I have located multiple heat signatures_."

"Multiple?" Tony frowned, making determined strides to the center of the room and looking around despairingly. If the others weren't there, he would immediately tell FRIDAY that he only cared about one of them, but he tried not to be so heartless. He was somebody's dad now, and Pepper was always very adamant about reminding him of that fact. "The only ones in here were Peter and Norman. Are you sure?"

" _Positive, boss. I have located six heat signatures_."

"You're not counting any of us, right?"

" _Correct_."

_What the hell?_

"Peter!" Tony cupped his mouth and shouted out, the others joining in and frantically digging through the mountains of rubble. " _Peter_!"

"Who keeps screaming my name?"

Everyone in the room froze as they snapped their heads toward one particular mountain of debris, their hearts still as the mountain shifted, a hand in a particular red-webbed glove sticking out of one of the openings. Tony was immediately sprinting forward, climbing up the hill and taking a firm hold of the hand.

"Peter, oh, my god. I'm so sorry, kid, I-"

Except as soon as he had the hand in his, he knew it wasn't Peter's. 

The hand was much larger than his kid's hands were, the fingers on it extending much longer. Not only that, but the glove on the hand wasn't the same red or the same material as Peter's suit. Tony stopped, letting go of the hand and stumbling down the hill, making cautious steps away.

"Tony, what the hell?"

"Well, thanks for nothing," the voice in the rubble said. Tony watched intently as the hand began clearing away the rock around it. "Way to kick a man when he's already down."

_**THWIP!** _

Everyone's brains short circuited as the hand made a familiar hand gesture, sending out a stream of webbing toward Steve and before anyone could register what was going on, his shield was being snatched out of his grip and into the hand sticking out of the rubble.

"Hey-!"

"Take it away, kids!"

The next few major events happened so quickly that nobody could quite see clearly what exactly had happened. One minute, they were all staring at a mountain of rubble with a familiar yet not-so-familiar hand sticking out of it, and the next, there were _figures_ running around them at light speed, tying them all together in thick layers of webbing until they were trapped shoulder-to-shoulder, the webbing cutting into their sides painfully.

And so, Earth's mightiest heroes were forced to stare dumbfounded as a group of people-well, people, plus what looked like a pig dressed just like them-were now towering over the Avengers, their familiar masked eyes staring daggers into their skulls. 

"Who the hell are you guys?"

"Who the hell are _you?_ " the taller one, the one Tony assumed had been stuck in the rubble, pressed. He was crossing his arms, trying to appear intimidating, though his physical shape just made him look uncomfortable. He finally caved, pulling off his mask with a huff and facing the Avengers with a raised brow, clearly unimpressed.

It was Spider-Man. Or, a much taller, bigger version of Spider-Man. Or, a _cartoon_ looking version of Spider-Man. There were minuscule details about the suit he was wearing that Tony couldn't ignore, like the spider symbol on his chest, and the way the blue part of the suit was brighter and more dominant than Peter's, and the way that it looked like a _goddamn cartoon_. As far as his face went, he may as well have been a complete stranger, standing there with a five o'clock shadow on his face and a disheveled mop of brown and grey hair and _crows feet_. 

"Seriously," Bucky insisted, tied up on the outside of the group and therefore unable to truly see what was going on. "Who the _hell_ are you guys?"

The man didn't answer, instead scanning the room up and down before rolling his eyes dramatically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you guys the idiots that turned this thing on?"

"We are not," Steve chimed in. "Do you know what that thing is?"

"Pssh, you could say that," the man sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped away, shaking his head and looking around in disbelief. "Y'know, it's times like this that I'd trade the whole Spider-Man bit for a rocking chair and a subscription to Reader's Digest."

"By the way," another one of the...Spider-People? said, this one wearing a black and red suit. "I missed you, man."

"Yeah," the one in the white and pink suit joined in, resting an arm on the black and red one's shoulder. "How've you guys been? It's really good to see you."

"Yeah, hey guys!"

"Oh, I missed you all," another was stepping forward, wearing a fedora and a trench coat. He was wrapping his arms around all five of them, the pig included, who was sitting on Trench Coat's shoulder, the eyes of his mask closing in content. "I've thought of you ever since we parted."

"I literally _swear to god_ ," Sam's voice boomed, glaring at each of the Spider-People with venom in his gaze, "if Parker doesn't jump out right now and tell us that we've all been super-punked, someone is getting their rib-cage inverted."

"What the bird said," Tony boomed back, squirming in a vein attempt to break free of the webbing. "Where the hell is my kid and _who the hell are you_?"

"First of all," the tallest one started, "how did you know my name?"

Silence befell the room, the tension growing so intense that it could be cut with a knife. Steve ended up being the one to break it.

"Sam said 'Parker'," Steve said cautiously, raising an eyebrow. "What is your name, exactly?"

"I think I know what's going on here," the man said, rubbing a tired hand over his exhausted, wrinkled face, throwing his hands up in a mock of surrender. "My name's Peter. Peter Benjamin Parker. I think it's pretty safe to deduce that I'm from an alternate reality, and it sure as hell isn't this one."

Tony nearly fainted, grabbing a hold of Natasha's arm to the best of his ability to steady himself though he never once took his eyes off of the guy. Peter B. raised a brow at this, his mind putting together the pieces.

"There can _not_ be two Peter Parker's. We already have _one_ here, and it's awful."

" _Sam_ -"

"So," the one in white spoke up again, removing her mask. She was young, about Peter's age, with short blonde hair falling over her eyes. She looked about as unimpressed as Peter B. did. "What the hell did you guys do, exactly?"

"Y-yeah," the one in black and red stuttered. "How'd you-?"

"I can answer that question."

The group turned their heads as much as they could as Bruce and Scott were approaching with their hands slightly raised in surrender. 

"Oh, hey, guys," Tony greeted sarcastically with a smile, though it lasted a fraction of a second and barely reached his eyes. "We're doing really good down here, by the way. Thanks for the help."

Bruce chose not to grace the snide remark with a reply, instead shooting him a pointed glare before turning back to the Spider-People and adjusting the bridge of his glasses.

"Hi. You've likely gathered that you're from an alternate reality. We're the Avengers."

"Oh, yeah?" Peter B. scoffed, sparing a quick glance back to the Spider-People behind him. "Well, we're the Spider...er...uh... _gang_."

"...Right. Anyways. Scott and I got as much as we could from that laboratory up there, but unfortunately a great deal of the information was destroyed in the explosion."

"The collider," Scott began, "is meant to connect parallel universes and bring together many different realities into one single universe. It's likely that, when Peter's DNA entered the proton beam, he brought back these guys."

"He brought back himself," Steve deduced with an impressed nod.

"He-what?" Clint scoffed, shaking his head with a laugh. "No. Are you kidding? This Peter looks nothing like him."

"Well..."

"No. No. He brought back a different version of himself, yes, but not a perfect carbon-copy."

"Look at the guy," Natasha mumbled. "He looks like a trashy, hobo comic book character."

"Oh, yeah, there's no replicating this level of handsome. I'm not Mysterio."

"Who?"

"Can we focus, please?" Tony snapped. "If Peter brought back this guy, then...where exactly is Peter?"

"Into the multiverse, obviously," Peter B. gathered , sparing an apologetic glance to Tony. "Sorry. I take it you two were close."

"What do you mean?" Steve shook his head, and for a moment he almost looked angry. Frustrated.

"It's the most likely explanation," Bruce confirmed from behind. " _Our_ Peter got stuck in place at the core of the proton beam and was kept there just long enough to be like a door for others like him in local alternate realities and universes."

"Then," Scott interjected, " _this_ Peter became the result of that. It's likely that our Spider-Guy went subatomic and landed in an alternate reality in which another version of him exists, but it's...it's almost impossible to tell which one he could've ended up in."

"So, what," Clint shook his head in confusion, a sarcastic laugh escaping his lips. "He's not here? He's just gone?"

"He warned us," Tony choked out again, meeting Steve's dejected stare. "When he needed me, I wasn't there. I should've been there."

"We'll get him back," Steve insisted. "We will. He's not gone."

"I don't care what we do," Sam's voice boomed once more. "Just get me away from all these _Peter_ _'s_."

"God," Peter B. looked at Sam scornfully, sparing quick glances to his 'Spider-Gang.' "This has got to be the worst alternate dimension ever."

* * *

When Peter finally made it out of the never-ending abyss of multiverses, he landed in New York.

But not _his_ New York.

_**BAM!** _

He collided face-first with one of the electronic billboards in Times Square before he was shooting down to the concrete below, denting and cracking the sidewalk. He groaned in pain as he struggled to stand on his feet, steadying himself on the wall of the building beside him. 

Everything hurt. His arms, his legs, his brain, his insides. He felt like his body was internally bleeding all over as he stumbled a bit before finally standing up straight, rolling his mask up to his nose and gulping in breaths of fresh air.

Except even the _air_ here felt different.

He finally looked around him, jaw dropping at what he saw. The buildings, the cars, the people...they all had a strange, distinct kind of _smoothness_ to them that he couldn't seem to describe by himself. Passersby seemed to pay him no mind as he looked around frantically for even a pigeon that didn't look like they were from sort of cartoon, but everything was the same, and suddenly his heart was thudding violently in his chest as he shoved his mask back on all the way.

"Karen, is there any chance you know why everyone in New York suddenly looks like they came from a comic book?"

Silence.

"Uh, K?"

More silence.

"K, call Mr. Stark."

Even more silence.

Peter cursed under his breath, tapping his foot impatiently. He began making a move to walk forward, though he stopped dead in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of himself in one of the market windows, eyes growing the size of dinner plates.

He looked...different. He looked like that exact same strange, distinct kind of smoothness that he couldn't put his finger on. His suit was a brighter red and blue, the eyes of his suit were much bigger than before, and his muscles even seemed to be more defined through his suit in an obnoxious sort of way.

"Oh, my god."

Peter didn't waste another moment, sprinting down the sidewalk and searching desperately for a store that had a bathroom in it. Along the way, he managed to "borrow" (he swore up and down that he would return it exactly where he found it) what he assumed to be a homeless person's discarded coat in a vein attempt at a disguise. He laid his eyes on a sandwich shop, making sure that it was mostly vacant before he was stumbling past the clerk and slamming the door of it shut, webbing the doorknob. He made sure no one was occupying the two stalls in the room before he was standing in front of one of the sinks. 

Slamming the palms of his hands down on the washbasin, he took a deep breath, hanging his head for a few seconds in fear before he finally made action.

He lifted a hand.

He gripped the neck of his mask.

He pulled.

And then, Peter deduced that this had to be some sort of dream. This had to be some sort of prank on him, some sort of trickery with the lights. 

But the lights looked like they were a cartoon too, so why shouldn't he?

His eyes grew even wider as he finally took in the reflection before him, the mask in his hand slipping to the ground. He looked exactly like a character in a comic book, from his eyes to his hair to his nose and even to the way his Spider-Sense began buzzing above his head. He reached a cautious hand up to his face, touching his cheek. 

"What the...?"

Still, he found that he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't _breathe_. His earlier shock at this alternate dimension that he had been mercilessly thrown into was now a mere shadow in comparison to the force of the new blow that struck him when his gaze met the wide-eyed stare of his cartoon self again.

One part of him wanted to go home. He wanted to be normal again. He wanted to be back at that dinner party with Mr. Stark, regardless of who the host was. He wanted to go back on patrol, then pick up some Thai for May and himself, and finish his homework for once.

Another part, an admittedly larger part, thought this was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him, and wanted to show Ned right away.

He shook himself out of it, wincing at the way his head continued pulsing. He looked above him, those little squiggles above his head that he assumed to be his Spider-Sense personified continuing to warn him. He frowned, noticing the way they were leaning toward the door of the bathroom as if warning him that someone was coming, and he couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. 

"That is so _cool_."

He pulled his mask back over his head and readjusted the hood under his coat, ripping the webbing off of the handle and opening the door, though there was no one there. There weren't even any customers in the store. He rolled his eyes, looking above his head in annoyance as the lines above his head continued buzzing.

"Well, no one's here," Peter muttered quietly, shrugging. "Why did you take me out here?"

The lines leaned forward, and instinctively, Peter was following the direction they were leading, making his way out of the store and ignoring the way that pedestrians were pointing at him, watching him. He didn't care. All of his other senses felt as if they had been dialed down to a five, and all that he cared about, all he could focus on was the way his Spider-Sense was literally _taking_ him somewhere.

He didn't notice the way the sky was turning orange and the lights of the city were getting brighter, didn't notice the way people were taking pictures of him, muttering " _Spider-Man is back?!_ " He could only mentally focus on his instincts, making determined strides forward until the lines disappeared.

"What?"

Peter looked around to where his senses took him, tilting his head with a frown.

He was standing outside of a large cathedral, one he didn't recognize ever being in New York. It looked daunting in the orange streetlight, especially seeing as there was no light coming from the inside of it. He looked around, his confusion growing when he noticed the several stones poking out of the ground surrounding the structure.

_A cemetery? Really?_

He huffed out a breath of both reluctance and annoyance but walked forward nonetheless, navigating his way throughout the headstones with a grimace.

He hated cemeteries.

He had every reason to, so he didn't feel too guilty about the way each headstone made him want to hurl. He only ever visited them once a year with May, and on rare occasions twice in a year. He found that his Uncle Ben haunted every apartment they lived in enough, and he could never quite bring himself to face his Uncle's headstone in person.

Regardless, he felt that he knew where he was going even without his Spider-Sense guiding him. He was walking further and further into the maze of stones until finally, he saw it.

He wasn't exactly searching for it. He didn't even know what _it_ was. But in his head, when he saw it from across the way, he knew that it was what brought him here.

He made cautious steps toward the headstone, swallowing thickly as he noticed the stuffed toys lying beside it, the framed artwork, the blue and red flowers, the sash draped across the corner of it.

_No, no, no._

He faced it head on, his heart thudding to a stop as he ripped his mask off, his face pale and his mouth dry.

**PETER PARKER**

**1991-2018**

_This has got to be the worst alternate dimension ever._

Suddenly, his Spider-Sense was whirring to life again, and it took everything in him not to grip his hair in fistfuls at the persistence of it.

 _I know!_ he wanted to scream. _I'm here! You_ brought _me here!_

"MJ? Is that you?"

Peter's heart stilled again until he was sure it wouldn't beat again, turning slowly at the source of the voice, and yeah, okay, maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to want to get rid of his Spider-Sense forever.

Upon turning, he could make out the figure of an older-looking woman approaching the tombstone with a bouquet of flowers. She looked defensive for a moment, though after squinting enough to see Peter clearly, she was stopping dead in her tracks, eyes widening ever so slightly as she brought a hand to her mouth.

"Peter?"

Peter's brain short-circuited.

"H-how-how do you know my name?" he asked cautiously, taking a step back.

_God, I just want Mr. Stark. I want to go home._

The woman was now standing right in front of him, setting the flowers down on the ground though she never once tore her gaze away from him. She reached her hands up carefully, cupping his face with a warm smile.

And, although this woman may as well have been a complete stranger to him in terms of appearance, Peter knew.

He knew her more than anyone.

"May?"

Her warm smile grew, and she moved her hands down, looking at his ridiculous get-up with a scoff.

"I guess one thing remains a constant in any dimension," May said, taking a hold of Peter's coat and scoffing. "You're all so lousy at protecting your identities."

"How did you know-?"

"C'mon, kid," she said, kissing the tips of her fingers and reaching over to place the kiss on the corner of the headstone before she was taking Peter's hand, leading him away from the grave. "I've got a lot to tell you and I'm assuming you don't have much time."

Peter could only nod frantically as he was suddenly being led forward, distantly acknowledging the way his Spider-Sense had completely vanished, leaving him with a clear head and loving ache in his chest.

* * *

"My name is Miles Morales."

"Gwen Stacy. Spider-Woman."

"Peter B. Parker."

"Peter Parker. My enemies call me Spider-Noir."

"Peni Parker!"

"Peter Porker-!"

"God, please, stop. For the love of all that is holy, just _stop_."

The Spider-Gang immediately died down to as quiet of a hush as they could manage, glancing around awkwardly at the Med-Bay of the Avenger's Tower that they were currently occupying. Tony distantly acknowledged the way he could hear Bruce typing rapidly on a keyboard big enough for his hands from across the room. He had sent Clint and Scott home to be with their families, Steve and Natasha handled Kingpin getting into custody, and Bucky and Sam had refused to be apart of the mission, claiming that " _if there are going to be multiple Peter Parkers, then there are going to be zero of us_ _."_

Tony honest to god had no idea what they were referring to in terms of hating his kid's guts, but he was already dealing with the aftermath of one of Peter's missions, and he didn't think he could handle facing another without dying of a worry-induced heart attack.

"So, let me get this straight," Tony pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, taking a deep breath through his nose and out of his mouth. "This," he made a weak gesture to the group, who were scattered all about the room, "has all happened before?"

"Yep," Gwen replied, leaning on her hands as she sat on one of the beds. "Perfect Peter Parker got killed trying to stop Kingpin from succeeding with the collider, and we were brought to his and Miles' dimension after the collider was activated."

"You know, he's not...he's not the _Perfect_ Peter Parker, alright? Like, that's very debatable, and there are many schools of thought-"

"Please, for the love of god, zip it," Tony insisted, glaring daggers at Peter B. as he continued pacing about the tiled floor.

Hey! We're here, guy. We're helping," Peter B. retaliated. "Our lives are a hot garbage fire and we are here. But you're chasing answers to a question about your kid and his place in the multiverse, or whatever, that might not be able to be answered on -- on our level. This is all -- it's just a reminder that we really have no real control, alright, man?"

Tony couldn't fight the scoff that forced itself off his lips, shaking his head and wanting nothing more than to send Peter B. light-years back to where he came from.

"Alright, _guy,"_ his words came out thick with venom. "You clearly know nothing about me, so here's a short bio for you. You think your life is a hot garbage fire? I used to make weapons for a living. I sold things that killed people. All I do is think about the lives I've destroyed, and the only thing that used to give me a break from it was alcohol. But that only made things worse. You know what I learned, though, from all that drinking? That it's real easy to blame everyone else for what's gone wrong with your life. So, I stopped. I took responsibility for what I'd done in my past. I met the woman of the dreams. I met Peter, the son I never had that allowed me to be the father I always wanted. But then, a purple alien with a nutsack for a chin killed him and made me watch. And for the past five years, I have had to live without that kid in my life, trying to fill the hole he left. That's what I used to do, until the day I finally woke up and realized... I could bring that kid back home to me. And now, a Kingpin criminal that is somehow even uglier than the purple alien took him from me _again_ and I just need everyone to focus the hell up, share with the class, and shut your damn mouths unless called on, because if we don't find him in at least the next _week_ then it'll be too damn late and you'll all be stuck here!"

The room was completely silent and still. No one dared to move or even _breathe_ , including Bruce. Peter B. broke the silence first, clearing his throat and nodding.

"Okay," he nodded, putting his hands up in a mock surrender. "Okay. You're right, man. Sorry."

"Okay...okay," Tony nodded, trying in vein to stand up straighter in order to exude some sort of confidence that he didn't have. "So this has happened before. Next question: why the hell do you people look like cartoons?"

"Uh, why do you look _...not_ like a cartoon?"

Tony let out another exhausted sigh.

"Just-you know what, never mind. So, wait, explain to me this; if this already happened before, how come my Peter didn't get trapped in this alternate reality along with you the first time it happened?"

"I think I can answer that question," Bruce said, rising from his seat with a notepad in hand. He sighed exhaustively, bringing his glasses down from the top of his head to the tip of his nose. "This group of Spider-People reside in our local group of universes."

"What, like-like a local group of galaxies?" Miles asked with a frown.

"Congratulations!" Penni beamed, though it became clear afterward that she was only being sarcastic. "You passed a basic Astro-Physics course!"

"That's not-"

"You're the only kid here that's taken that course, Pen."

"Bruce, please, continue," Tony looked up at the ceiling with an exasperated sigh, shaking his head as discreetly as possible with a roll of his eyes.

"Right, so, anyways. Technically, Peter would have joined them all when the collider was activated last year. Except..."

"Except he wasn't alive," Tony finished, hanging his head low.

"...Well," Spider-Noir huffed, "that really sucks."

A new wave of grief was washing over him, and god, he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to get out of touch with reality and sleep forever and then go back in time and pay more attention. He would've ignored Peter's persistent wish that he could handle Spider-Man by himself no matter how much Peter resented him for it, and he would've watched every single one of Peter's baby monitor videos that Karen documented every night, and he would've held onto him tighter, listened more, been more supportive-

Tony was shaken out of his thoughts when the Spider-People were each suddenly crying out in agony, falling on their hands and knees and grabbing their heads with their hands. Not only that, but they were being jerked around by bright flashes of color and shapes all over them. If Tony knew any better, he would say they were glitching.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Glitch," Spider...pig, gasped out. Tony raised an eyebrow in an agitated manner, turning to Bruce for some sort of real, scientific explanation.

"He's referring to cellular decay," Bruce supplied. "Their atoms are reacting negatively to going subatomic and reentering an alternate dimension in one day. Or, simply put, glitching."

"Ow," Miles groaned on the floor, hugging himself tightly as he curled up into himself. "I never had to go through that before. I think I just shot some webs outta my nose."

"So...that was it, right?" Tony pressed, shoulders slowly rising in angst as he spared a glance of concern to the group, watching them all struggle to stand. "I mean, that's the only time that's going to happen?"

Bruce sighed. He knew what Tony was asking. He knew Tony knew the answer. He knew he would have to explain it to him anyway to convince him that it was real.

"Tony," Bruce started softly, "If they stay in the wrong dimension for too long, they'll reach total cellular decay, and their bodies will begin to disintegrate. They won't exist in any realities at all, because...they won't exist."

Tony choked, shaking his head dejectedly. He avoided eye contact for as long as he could, knowing it would only anchor him to reality longer than he wanted to be.

"So, uh...Peter?"

Bruce frowned dejectedly, nodding his head. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose, placing a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder and offering a grin to make up for the news he had just delivered.

"But that just means that we have to work harder to get him back before that can happen."

Tony looked up at that, returning the smile with one of his own. It was a very distinct smile, one that was specifically reserved for his family, but it always managed to align his thoughts and keep him tethered to reality in a good way. He nodded, taking a deep breath and turning back to the group, who had somehow each acquired juice boxes and he found that he was too tired to ask, wasting only a moment doing a double take before he was acting on his newfound motivation.

"Alright, Spider-Freaks," Tony said, clapping his hands together and offering a rather dull smile. "What can you tell me about what happened the last time this happened?"

"Well," Miles began, taking a sip of his juice with a satisfied ' _ahh_.' "Last time around, we had a goober. Do you have one of those?"

"May I ask...?"

"It's an override key," Penni replied. "The collider should have a specific location in its protective launch room that can be shut down with one. It deactivates its main functions."

"Do you know if Peter had one, Tony?"

"I don't know anything that kid's been doing," Tony ran a tired hand through his hair before an idea struck him, and in a split second he was facing Bruce head on with wide eyes. "But Ned Leeds does."

"Who?"

"I've just-I've got some calls to make," Tony called over his shoulder, already halfway out of the door before his phone was ringing. He continued to the elevator, taking the call.

"Stark."

"Hey, Tony," Steve said over the line. Tony could already sense the way his voice was toned. He was dreading delivering some form of bad news.

"What happened?"

"Well," Steve sighed loudly. "Kingpin is in custody. SHIELD ended up coming down to conduct an investigation of the underground lab and of Kingpin's collider. Nat and I asked that they keep an eye out for...you know, a-a body. Luckily, they didn't find one, which just confirms our theory that Peter is in another universe."

"Okay," Tony frowned as the elevator doors opened stepping inside and standing in the center with a confused shrug. "So...what happened, Cap?"

There was a pause on the line, and Tony was getting pretty sick of all the pauses and tip-toeing everyone seemed to be doing around him lately. The last thing his heart needed was any more suspense.

"They also did not find the body of Norman Osborn."

Tony started, swallowing thickly and closing his eyes with a furrowed brow. 

"What are you saying?"

Another pause. 

_Jesus Christ, Cap_ -

"We have reason to believe that Norman followed Peter to another universe, Tony."

* * *

"So, uh," Peter began awkwardly, fidgeting with the broken zipper of his coat and sparing a quick glance out of the car window. "This has happened...before?"

"Yep," May nodded, making a turn onto a street of a neighborhood in Brooklyn. "Except last time, there were more of you."

"What, like, they all looked the same and everything? Like me?"

"Oh, no," May let out a laugh, pulling the car into the driveway of one of the houses. Peter ducked his head toward the windshield so that he could look at it. It was simple, and in a very odd way familiar. They stepped out of the vehicle, and Peter began making his way to the front door under the assumption that May was following him.

"Nope, not that way."

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed-"

"Don't get me wrong," May insisted, "You're more than welcome to stay in my house, kid. I just think you might like what I have back here even better."

Peter tilted his head as May gestured to the side of the house, making her way to the backyard. Peter followed her blindly, frowning as they approached an beat-up shed. He almost thought that maybe this woman was just insane, that maybe she saw a vulnerable kid cosplaying Spider-Man in an abandoned cemetery and made her move, but then she was turning a key into a padlock sealing the shed, and the door began to glow.

"Woah."

"What? Oh, this old thing?" May smirked over her shoulder, stepping forward now that the shed doors had opened in a spider-like shape. "It's where I do my best work."

Peter numbly stepped inside, looking up and around with awe. He was a little embarrassed that he was so easily impressed by what looked like an elevator, but it was glowing an ambient white, and the doors were sealing shut, and _holy shit, the elevator is_ red _now!_

The elevator began descending, and Peter realized that as it lowered further underground, it had no walls. Because suddenly, it was just him and May on a platform, and the ground below was beginning to light up floor panel by floor panel, revealing a web-like underground structure of suits, tech, workout equipment, and _was that a plane?!_

" _Woah_ ," Peter breathed out again, but this time he really meant it. They stepped off of the platform to the main floor panel. Suits were resting in large tubes on the lining of the panel, and Peter couldn't keep himself from stumbling toward them, practically drooling at the sight. "A private lab? Spider-Man in a cape?! Oh, my god, wait'll Mr. Stark hears about this."

"So you have a Stark, too?"

Peter turned back to May on a dime, a wide grin making its way to his face at the implication.

" _You_ have a Tony Stark?"

"Who do you think funded this little underground lair?" she asked, gesturing to the entire structure. "My Peter was successful, but not that successful."

"So-so your Peter and Tony Stark: were they friends?"

"You could say that," May nodded, walking over to a sleek metal desk with a tea and coffee pot. Peter hummed with a nod and a smile.

_Some things never change._

"Can I make you a tea?"

"I would actually kill for a coffee."

May threw her head back slightly with a laugh, flipping the coffee pot on and taking out two mugs.

"Some things really never change with you, huh?"

"I wouldn't know," Peter laughed back. "I've never met myself before."

Putting his hands behind his back, he began walking around the floor panel with interest, mainly eyeing the various suits before his and May's previous conversation came back to the forefront of his mind. "So, what was it that you were saying about the other Spider...people?"

"Right," May nodded, taking a seat at the desk and waiting for the water to boil. "They weren't exactly carbon copies of other Peter Parkers. One was a man from the 1940s, two were teenaged-girls, one was even a pig. Even my Peter looked nothing like you."

Peter frowned at that, closing his eyes in confusion before he was stumbling to figure out which question he wanted to ask first.

"Then how did you know that it was me? At the cemetery?"

"Please," May scoffed, that smile still on her face as she leaned back in her seat. "I'd like to say that I just knew, but those Parker boy ears will persevere in any alternate reality. You almost look like Benjamin."

Peter stiffened, a deep sadness in his chest rising to the surface as he made slow steps toward her, taking the seat across from her.

"I mean, the fact that you were also wearing a Spider-Man suit-"

"Is, uh..." Peter swallowed thickly, choosing his next words carefully though he believed that he already knew the answer judging by the sadness hiding behind her eyes. "Is Ben...?"

"No, sweetie," May replied sadly, sitting up a bit straighter. Peter nodded with his head hung, placing his hands crossed on the table. He let out an exhausted sigh, looking up and into her eyes. "He passed years ago. Right when Peter first became Spider-Man."

"Same for me," Peter supplied weakly with a chuckle, though the sadness remained. May frowned, reaching her hands forward and taking Peter's firmly in hers. Peter smiled genuinely again at the gesture. "I don't know why I thought-"

Before Peter could finish, a white hot pain was suddenly engulfing his entire body, flashes of bright colors clouding his vision before he was suddenly collapsing to the ground, gulping in breaths of air. He steadied himself as he was now laying on his stomach, his palms flat on the ground. May was rushing forward, placing one hand on his back and the other on his chin, lifting his head until he was looking up at her.

"What just happened?"

"Glitching," May said, almost apologetically. "Don't worry, you'll get used to them eventually."

"Used to them?!" Peter shot up to his feet, backing away with his hands waving defensively. "No, no, no, no, no. I can't stay here long enough to get used to anything. I have to get home, like, right now. I left a pretty big mess before I showed up here, and-oh, god, Mr. Stark probably thinks I'm dead-!."

"Kid," May laughed, stepping forward until they were face to face again. "Of course I'm going to help you get home. It just may or may not take a hell of a long time. Follow me."

Peter was once again following her aimlessly to one of the far corners of the panel, where she flipped a switch and suddenly a webbing of photos made itself known under the light. Peter did a double take, wide eyes staring at a large photo of Kingpin, his employees' mugshots scattered about behind his.

"I take it you know him?"

* * *

Upon waking up, Norman almost thought that he was back in his human body. 

Of course, that was no longer possible after his latest double dose of serum.

Norman let out a deep roar of a groan as he sat up, the screams of people ringing in his ears and before long he realized that the screams were actually happening in the moment.

He was lying in the middle of the Brooklyn bridge, blocking traffic both was as his wings, horns, tail...basically everything about him was keeping any cars from passing him. He finally managed to sit up, roaring and successfully sending any people not sitting in a car sprinting in the other direction. He didn't waste another moment in flying away from the bridge, flying back to Fisk's penthouse.

He didn't remember how he got here. He didn't remember how he ended up so far away from the collider. Then again, it was simply just another side effect of the serum. Forgetfulness. Fatigue. It would wear off eventually.

He landed on the roof of Kingpin's penthouse, confusion completely setting in as there were no lights on anywhere in the building. If he really tried to remember correctly, there had been a dinner party tonight, right?

He flew down below, ignoring the way people on the streets screamed out in horror and ran the other direction. He squinted down at the front doors of the building, his vision still swimming though he was able to make out the words that mattered.

" _Foreclosure...Wilson Fisk...Custody...?_ "

He snarled, turning on the heel of his clawed foot and flying back up and through the city once again.

And that is the story of why Norman Osborn was flying through the city at 10 o'clock at night, eventually crash landing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i hated writing that norman tid-bit lol.


	3. spider-man science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really had to do my homework for this chapter lol.  
> art has been updated on the first two chapters!!!

"Remind me again why you're tagging along?"

"May is, uh...expecting me."

Tony rolled his eyes at Happy's garbage pile of a response, finally reaching the Parker's apartment door after what felt like an eternal death march into the building. He had been forced to listen to May's panic-stricken voicemails after answering Steve's call in the elevator and, while he was confident enough to say that he could face anything after going head-to-head with Thanos and saving the universe, he still wasn't so sure that he had the strength to face the wrath of May Parker when it came to their kid being in any kind of danger.

He heaved a deep sigh, glanced at Happy, and knocked.

A fraction of a second later, the door was being yanked open.

Tony froze with his fist still suspended in the air as May stood in the threshold of the apartment with a crossed expression accompanied by a white-knuckled grip on a home phone. 

"May," Tony started, swallowing thickly and forcing the best half-smile that he could. "I, uh...I've got some explaining to do, huh?"

May simply raised an eyebrow at both men before she shoved the door open the rest of the way, revealing the living room television. It was blasting the local news, which consisted mostly of helicopter views of Fisk Tower before the entire structure was suddenly trembling violently. From the ground, people in gowns and tuxedos were being rushed out of the tower by Steve and his circus troupe. Tony could only glance back and forth between May and the television, once again offering his best attempt at a grin.

She was not amused.

"May," Happy started, leaning over and placing a rather-awkward hand on her shoulder. "I think it would be best if you let Tony and I explain everything to you before we jump to any conclusions."

"Oh, conclusions have been reached," May snapped back, sending a swift glance back to the living room. "And I didn't need either of you to reach them."

"Wha-"

Tony and Happy realized at that moment that someone else was in the apartment, doing a double-take as Ned Leeds turned toward the door where he sat on the couch. His eyes were wide and had frantic energy to them that Tony felt immediately responsible for somehow. 

"Mr. Leeds," Tony acknowledged from the door, placing a hand on May's other shoulder in gratitude as she finally obliged and let the men through. "I was about to come to get you, kid. We, uh...we need your help."

"Yeah," Ned's eyes darted between the three. "This would be so much cooler under different circumstances."

"Kid...we need you to tell us everything Peter has been doing ever since we stopped watching his Baby Monitor Protocol. Time isn't really on our side right now, either."

"I know," Ned nodded wildly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes before he was pulling a red and black flash drive from his pocket. "Before you yell at me, and eventually the both of us when you get Peter back, Mr. Stark, I would just like to say...Peter knew how dangerous this would be. But...but, because of the stuff that's on this flash drive, he figured that the only one who could stop this guy, who could stop Kingpin, was Spider-Man. And I...I still believe in him."

Tony stared numbly at the kid, acknowledging out of the corner of his eye the way in which May had relaxed from furious to worrisome, standing by Happy's side as he held a firm grip on her shoulders supportively. He cleared his throat rather obnoxiously to preserve his nonexistent calm and cool facade before he was being tossed the flash drive, holding it in his hands delicately and choking out a small laugh at the piece of tape wrapped around it, on which Peter had scribbled the word "FBI." He brushed the words with the pad of his thumb before sniffing, reverting his attention back to the present company.

"I do too, kid."

* * *

"Rise and shine, kiddo."

Peter woke with a start as something was being thrown harshly at him, jolting him out of his rest. He felt like he could sleep for ages, assuming that it was only a side effect of multiverse travel. He yawned obnoxiously before he was rolling onto his side, forcing his eyes open with a wince. Even in a Spider-Cave, his senses were finding ways to be overloaded.

"May?" he croaked out, stretching rather dramatically as May simply stood over his couch bed and watched with a raised eyebrow. "What time is it?"

"It's early," May replied. "And we have work to do."

"Work...?" Peter acknowledged the Spider-Man suit that had been thrown at him and ultimately interrupted his rest. It was one of Peter's-or, well the other Peter's, that is. He frowned, casting a glance to the Spider-Man suit that he had worn from home that was draped over a desk chair. He took a moment to relish in the brilliance of this Peter's lair, in which he was currently on the floor panel he had dubbed the "Spidey-Lounge." It came fully equipped with a couch on which Peter was sleeping, a desk, and even a soda fountain.

"Yes, work."

"What're we...workin' on?"

"Well, the ultimate goal is to get you home. But first, I want to see what you can really do. _My_ Peter studied his own powers for years and even studied multiverses with Tony Stark when Kingpin started to become a serious threat."

Peter hid his smile at that.

"They studied the possibilities of spider abilities that were distributed throughout the multiverse. That's why we're gonna work on yours today."

"Uh, all due respect, May," Peter sat up with an exhausted grunt, "but I could just tell you what I'm capable of right now: wall-crawling and super-strength. Besides, I really need to be focusing all of my energy on getting myself home."

"Let me ask you, Peter," May started casually, sauntering over to the desk and raising a brow at Peter's personal suit before sitting in the chair it was draped over. "Have you ever had training specifically to measure your powers?"

"Well, I...Mr. Stark made my suit for me before we even met. I guess...I guess that he already knew everything he needed to know?"

"Geez," she scoffed with a fond smile. "Typical Stark arrogance. You could be capable of so much more than you think, you know. I mean, do you have a Spider-Sense? Can you Venom-Strike? Can you grow four extra limbs? Can you turn invisible? Do you produce your own webs naturally? Do you have night vision?"

Peter gaped at her, slowly raising an eyebrow before having to snap his jaw shut and raise his chin in a lame attempt at confidence.

"I have a Spider-Sense, yes."

May smirked at that, leaning back in her chair and gesturing to the suit she had given Peter.

"It's temporary since I'm assuming your A.I. is nonfunctional at the moment, but a suit is a suit. It'll fit like a glove."

Peter could only stare back and forth between the suit and May before he was rising from the couch, albeit with plenty of hesitation and resistance. He stretched once more, staring at the sleek suit in his grip.

"What if I don't have anything special to offer?" Peter asked quietly, not once breaking his eye contact with the spider symbol on the chest of the suit.

"You do," May nodded, that same knowing smirk still plastered on her face. "Which is why I want to get you started early. Understanding your powers...and the responsibility that comes with them."

Peter glared at her at that.

"Don't you dare say it."

She chuckled, spinning around in the desk chair and flipping on the coffee pot that was sitting by the soda machine before frowning, almost as if to herself, before turning to Peter with narrowed eyes.

"Do you have the ability to communicate with other spiders?"

"Uh, not-not that I'm aware of? If I did, that'd be pretty cool. I could send a little Spider-Army onto my enemies and I'd be all, like, 'Get 'em, guys!' And then they'd all be like, 'Sir, yes, sir!' And the bad guys would be like, 'Spiders! Noooo!'"

"...Yeah. I only ask, because...well, Miles never showed up to training yesterday."

"Oh. Wait, who?"

"Miles took over for Peter after he died. He's the new Spider-Man, you could say. He was bitten by a radioactive spider in a subway tunnel...I won't get into it. Anyway, he hasn't returned any of my calls, and he didn't show up to his usual training yesterday evening. I don't have any proof, but...I have reason to believe that when you came here, you opened up a gateway for others like you, and now he's in _your_ universe somewhere, where your collider was activated. Likely with the other Spider-People."

"You think so?" Peter sat back down on the couch, though he continued to lean forward with interest. "God, that can't be good, especially for Tony...the last thing he needs is more me's. Wait, what does any of that have to do with communicating with other spiders...?"

May smirked again, tilting her head as if waiting for Peter to respond before she could.

Peter gasped as his eyes lit up.

"Are you saying I could communicate with other spiders as in..."

"It's worth a shot," she smirked again. Peter beamed, jumping up and holding the spider suit with a firm grip.

"I'll go change."

* * *

"It all started before Thanos."

Tony, and the Spider-Gang all leaned forward in anticipation, crowded around a fidgety Ned seated at a desk in Tony's penthouse at the tower. Ned shoved the flash drive into a computer and bounced his leg anxiously as he waited for it to load. 

"Kingpin had been an enemy of Peter's before the first snap. The snap took Kingpin, too. Essentially, Kingpin was angry at...well... _you_ , the Avengers, for not using the infinity stones to bring back his family. He didn't seem to understand that the stones can't undo actual deaths, I guess."

"Wait, back up," Tony interrupted. "Why was Kingpin Peter's enemy _before_ the snap? What did they have to hate each other for?"

"Peter doesn't hate anybody," Ned retaliated as politely as he could. He sent another glance back to the Spider-People for what felt like the millionth time. "This is still _super_ weird. So, wait, your names are all Peter? Do you all just live different versions of Peter's life? Wait, oh my god...do _you_ all have a Ned Leeds?"

"I do," Peter B. replied. "He's a real S.O.B. We went to high school and college together, but now he works for the Daily Bugle and makes my life a living hell. He also dated my wife at one point."

"Mine worked for Oscorp in my universe," Gwen raised a hand with a deadpan stare. "He's basically the reason that _my_ Peter died."

"Ned Leeds is my partner during the day," Spider-Noir said. "Not the brightest fella, though."

"Ned Leeds worked for my father," Peni added grimly. "He died shortly after he did."

"Never met a Ned Leeds," Miles frowned. "But I'm also, like, a _lot_ younger than you guys, so..."

"I had a Ned," Peter Porker said, coughing back what sounded like a sob. "I couldn't save him from the evil clutches of Ducktor Doom! His death was my fault!"

The room fell silent as awkward glances were exchanged between the group, ultimately broken by Tony's groan of misery.

"Can we please focus on the task at hand for just five seconds?" he huffed, turning back to the computer and clapping Ned on the shoulder. "Sorry, kid. Let's postpone the background checks for now, yeah?

"Of course, Mr. Iron-Man, sir. I apologize _profusely-_ "

"...That's not-you can just call me Tony, kid."

"Awesome," Ned said breathlessly, an awestruck grin reaching his lips before he was turning back to the monitor." Okay, so: Peter. He and I basically played spy and tied a bunch of robberies and underground transactions to Fisk. They all involved the theft of some pretty high tech. Conveniently, though, the robberies died down after Fisk Industries became a benefactor of Alchemex and Oscorp. Then, he had, like, a _bunch_ of new tech, plus Norman Osborn to fight his battles for him."

"That sounds a lot like what happened to the Peter from my universe," Miles said, eyeing the computer worriedly. "And...we all know how that story turned out."

"Don't remind me."

"Wait," Gwen frowned, "that still doesn't explain why Kingpin would try to kill Peter, right? I mean, by the looks of it, the only thing Peter did was shut down a few transactions. That doesn't exactly warrant murder."

"Oh! Did this Peter kill Kingpin's family like Miles' Peter did?"

"Shut it, Ham-Head."

"Well actually," Ned interrupted, hanging his head slightly while keeping an eye on the computer as it finished loading. " Kind of. That's where the flash drive comes into play. Peter didn't just break up Kingpin's little mobs: Kingpin blames him for...well, you'll see, I guess."

The group shared uncertain glances with each other before the monitor began displaying a video of Peter's baby monitor footage.

The footage crackled and fuzzed-out at first, though slowly it began displaying a crystal clear image of Peter fighting Fisk in his penthouse. He was using the wall as leverage, landing several punches and kicks to Fisk's face until Fisk suddenly grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall. Peter's hands fumbled uselessly at Fisk's large fist around his throat, his legs thrashing to escape.

"This looks a lot like that footage May showed us in Peter's spider-lair," Peter B. observed, glancing at Miles and Gwen. "Remember those tapes she had from Peter's suit?"

"Yeah," Miles nodded. "This looks _just_ like it, actually."

" _You're dead, Spider-Man_ ," Fisk said on screen, and Tony's vision turned red as Fisk's fist was suspended in the air, his gaze venomous. Tony couldn't help but watch with an aching heart as Peter continued clawing at the other fist choking him to death.

" _Wilson! What are you doing?!_ " Fisk turned toward a high-pitched voice coming from the threshold of the room, posture clearly stiffening upon noticing the presence of a young woman and a preteen boy.

" _...Vanessa?_ " Fisk shook his head, watching in horror as the woman, Vanessa, flung out a protective arm in front of the boy, backing away frantically.

"Oh, yeah," Gwen nodded with a wince. "I remember this part."

" _Richard, come on_ ," Vanessa gasped out, sprinting out of the room. Fisk dropped Peter to the ground and sprinted after them. The footage began crackling out again as Peter choked on the ground.

"Jesus," Tony breathed, rubbing a hand down his face. "When the hell did this happen?"

"Back in 2018. Before the snap."

"What? But-I didn't stop watching his footage until last month. Why did I never hear about this?"

Ned swiveled the desk chair to face Tony head-on, a terrified look lying behind his eyes though he attempted to hide it with a sheepish grin. 

"Remember that time I told you that you shouldn't yell at Peter and me? Because we were working together for the common good of society?"

"Those were not your exact words," Tony deadpanned, rolling his eyes exhaustively. "You hacked the suit again, didn't you?"

"Well, why did you think the footage was so distorted?"

Tony continued to glare down at the kid, who caved even deeper into himself in embarrassment. 

"Okay. Okay, you know what, it doesn't matter anymore. That still doesn't explain why Fisk hates my kid."

"As I said," Porker crossed his tiny arms, "he killed the guy's family."

"He didn't _kill_ anyone, okay?" Miles frowned. "At least, not directly...he was just...the reason they were on the road, that was all."

"What are they talking about?" Tony mumbled down to Ned.

"Well," Ned began, reaching down to the bottom drawer of Peter's desk and pulling out a manila folder. It was labeled "Kingpin" rather hastily. Tony made a mental note to give _his_ Peter a more private lab to keep his investigative work in when he got the kid back. "After the footage happened, _this_ happened."

Ned pulled out a cut-out article from a newspaper and handed it to Tony, who pulled it close to his eyes and read it.

**VANESSA AND RICHARD FISK OF FISK INDUSTRIES KILLED IN SIDE COLLISION BY NEW JERSEY TRUCK DRIVER**

"Shit," Tony huffed, placing the paper onto the desk. "So, what, Fisk blames Peter for what happened to his family? That's...that's bullshit."

"That's what I said," Gwen shook her head in disgust. "He is such a _pig_."

"Really?"

"I don't want to hear it."

"I guess people do crazy things when they're in grief," Peni shrugged sadly.

"There's more," Ned said almost apologetically, though he appeared miserable at the idea of showing them whatever else was on the flash drive as he was turning back to the computer and skipping ahead in the footage.

This time, Peter and Fisk were in the same room, still after each other's throats. Tony raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Ned questioningly.

"Is this the same video?"

"This was taken last month."

" _You're dead, Spider-Man_."

Fisk was doing exactly what he had done last time, and Peter was struggling to break free of the hold he had on his throat once again, but to no avail. 

" _You leave the world unprotected for five years and can't even bother to bring them back with you when you reappear? Useless_!"

Peter was slammed to the ground, coughing and choking and cradling his throat protectively. He looked up at Kingpin, the eyes of his mask squinting.

" _You-hack-you lost them before the snap, Kingpin. I was there, remember? We were-hack hack-we were here, in this room, and your wife saw you for what you really are. She saw you-hack-...choking me, like you did just now, and she ran away with your son because she was terrified of you!_ "

 _"No,"_ Kingpin shook his head frantically, his gaze a mix of outrage and deep sadness. _"No, you're wrong. You don't know."_

 _"I do,"_ Peter insisted, his voice hoarse _. "I do know. Your family died and you couldn't stop it. I know what that's like, okay? No amount of infinity stones could have brought them back. You have to accept that. You can stop this, Fisk. You can stop all of this."_

Kingpin stared down at Peter, and Tony couldn't help but hold his breath in anticipation as both Peter's words and his position in the fight was breaking his heart. Obviously, Peter leaves the fight alive, but the raw horror Tony was feeling watching the footage through Peter's eyes was killing him. 

Peter gasped on-screen as Kingpin threw down two large fists onto his body before the camera blacked out.

Tony stood completely still, as did his heart.

"So...your Peter is dead, right?" Peni asked. "Cause, uh, if I remember correctly, that's the same move that killed Miles' Peter."

"My Peter had also just been held into the collider's core and was still inside when it exploded," Miles retaliated. "Show some respect."

"He is not dead," Tony bit back, sending a pointed glare Ned's way and narrowing his eyes at the way Ned was looking up at him with wide eyes and his mouth sealed in a thin line. 

As if he didn't do anything wrong.

As if he didn't keep _life-threatening_ secrets from him. 

Tony found himself bending at the waist until his face was mere inches away from Ned's, whose eyes had grown to the size of basketballs at the gesture. The kid held his breath, understandably stunned.

"You two didn't tell _anybody_ about this?" he snapped out, using all of his energy to hold back from wringing the kid's neck. The kid in question fumbled for an answer, mouth agape and brain unguarded. He was clearly wasting his energy on keeping a secret that had no use being kept now. "There's no need in protecting Peter now, Ned. The worst possible outcome of you two sneaking around and keeping your...your little _secrets,_ has already happened. Peter isn't here, Ned. He's in another _universe_ because of Wilson Fisk, and I'm gonna need you to share with the entire class everything you know about him before I have to extract it from you myself."

"...You can _do_ that?"

At Tony's silence, Ned was clearing his throat, turning back to the computer with a grimace.

"No, we didn't tell anyone."

"And where did Peter go after this, hm? Your house? Did you patch him up there?"

"Well-I just-I mean-he told me he was fine! He-he told me that his super-healing or whatever would fix it! I wouldn't have let him go home unless I knew he meant it."

"So you believed him" Tony nodded, taking a composing inhale and closing his eyes to try to muster up some sort of patience inside of him. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke. "Look, kid...I know that you're Peter's...guy in the chair. I know that you're his best friend. You love him. Well, I do too, kid. I understand that you thought you were doing the right thing. But-but, honestly, I swear to god, kid, what was the point of keeping this from me?"

Ned bit his lip, his finger tapping anxiously on the desk before he turned toward Tony with a firm, albeit terrified, stare.

"Should we go?" Noir jabbed a thumb at the door, though before Tony could answer, the Spider-Gang were each collapsing to the ground, grabbing at their heads as another violent glitch passed through them. Ned gasped aloud. Tony didn't break eye contact.

The more he paid attention to their glitching, the more he thought about Peter.

"Sh-should we help them?!"

"No. If anything, they'll finally shut up for a few seconds. Now, c'mon, Ned, give me something. Please."

"He...Peter, he...he didn't want you to find out, because...Kingpin isn't really after him...specifically."

Tony narrowed his eyes questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"At first," Ned started slowly, "before the snap, he hated Peter, sure. He blamed him for getting his family killed. But after the second snap...he was more after the Avengers than Peter. Specifically you. He wanted...revenge, I guess? Because you and Mr. Captain Amerca returned the stones back to their timelines. He wanted to use them himself to bring back his wife and son or whatever. Obviously _I_ know that that's not how it works, and so does Peter, but there was no getting through to Kingpin. So...he wanted to use Peter as leverage against the Avengers because Kingpin knew about Spider-Man and Iron-Man's special alliance, and Peter figured that maybe if he took Kingpin down himself...it wouldn't have to come to that, a-and the Avengers would be none the wiser!"

It was an understatement at that point to say that Tony was...stupefied.

Not only did another person want the infinity stones, but Peter was protecting both himself and Steve from having to deal with the guy. Tony slowly turned, sitting on the edge of the desk adjacent to the one they had huddled around and hanging with his head hung defeatedly. His chest filled with an overwhelming feeling of defeat, and he could do nothing but scold himself for having thrown a tantrum directed at Peter and Ned when he knew deep down that Peter was simply being idiotically self-sacrificing, and Tony was just being...

God, he didn't know. Terrified, he guessed.

"So," Ned continued, "I guess...I guess his plan was to get you all in one place."

"Wow. This is shaping up to be a pretty hard-core origin story."

"That's-that's not-"

"The kid already has an origin story, Noir."

"Oh. So...a post-origin story?"

Tony scoffed, looking up and around the room as he fumbled for something, anything to say that would justify the shit storm he was desperately attempting to brave.

"Was this my fault?"

* * *

"Wake up."

Norman squeezed his eyes shut tighter as a wave of nausea overcame him, summoning all of his energy and focus into peeling his eyelids open. The first thing he could register was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He waswearing pants, though. Also, the floor was _freezing_. And the voice that had woken him up was familiar and echoing, which meant he was somewhere...big?

He finally opened his eyes ever so slightly, grimacing in protest. The lights were bright, and someone was standing over him. Someone huge. He looked up enough to make out Fisk's face, his eyes glowering down at him. He seemed to smirk slightly as Norman woke.

"You did good, Goblin," Fisk said, his voice low and menacing. "My servants are loyal."

"Where...what happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

Norman frowned, sitting up on his elbows and observing his surroundings. There were sitting at the bottom of the dome of the collider, though it looked much smaller than he remembered it being. His eyes landed upon the wall, which had the word "Alchemax" displayed along the side of it. His confusion deepened.

"Where are we?" he asked again.

"The prototype," Fisk replied, his arms behind his back as he sauntered casually away from him. "Upstate. We're in the Alchemex testing wing."

"But...but the prototype collider was built at Oscorp. And Alchemex isn't upstate. There was never a collider here...?"

"Right," Fisk let a laugh escape him, shaking his head. "You're from an alternate dimension. I almost forgot."

"I am?" Norman gripped the bridge of his nose tiredly and tried desperately to remember anything from the last twenty-four hours. He remembered being at the collider, and he vaguely remembered fighting Spider-Man, but the rest was all just one big blur that he realized in defeat he wouldn't be remembering any time soon.

"But I guess my more loyal constituents are not bound by universes."

Norman looked down at his hands, eyes widening at the distinct smoothness they had to them. He looked up at Fisk, then to the collider, which looked the same.

"What's happening to me?" Norman gasped out, flipping his frantic hands back and forth as his breathing began picking up. "Why do I look like this?"

Fisk raised an eyebrow, kneeling until he could make closer, fatal eye contact.

"Norman," he leered, and Norman realized at that moment that Fisk was wearing a large, grey prison jumpsuit, a long number printed on the pocket of it. "There's a lot going through your head right now, I'm sure. But, going off of the fact that you broke me out of prison and brought me to my penthouse before I brought us here, I can only assume that you know me in your dimension. That we were working on something monumental. I need you to tell me how you got to this dimension. I assume time isn't on our side, here."

Norman bit his lip, furrowing his brow and searching deeply for any memory that would justify being here, in this collider, with this cartoon version of Wilson Fisk, while he was wearing nothing but a pair of cargo pants.

Finally, he remembered what he assumed to be the important parts.

"Spider-Man," he breathed out, shaking his head as he stared at the ground with wide, concentrated eyes. "We were...we were fighting. At the collider."

"Good," Fisk nodded, rising and reaching over to where he had apparently placed three water bottles on the ground beside Norman. "Here, drink up, Goblin. You'll need it for this next leg of our journey. And please, continue."

Norman accepted the drink gratefully, drinking it in great gulps before he drained it completely, reaching over for the second.

"While we were fighting," he said restlessly, taking another sip of water. "Something...happened. Stark was there. Spider-Man and I got stuck in the proton beam. I think it was my fault."

"And now you're here," Fisk nodded in understanding, breathing a laugh out of his nose. "Which means Peter Parker is, too."

"Who?" Norman finished the second bottle, reaching for the second with a confused frown still plastered to his face before he was freezing, his eyes darting every which way as he began searching for a logical explanation. "Wait-Tony Stark's kid assistant?"

"Maybe in your universe. But he's dead in this one. Peter Parker is Spider-Man."

Norman gaped in astonishment.

"I can't believe I didn't see it before," he whispered, disregarding the third bottle as he sat up straight. "He works for Stark. Stark makes his suits. God, how did I not see this?"

"When we find him, I'll give you a go at him." Norman rose to his feet, brushing his hands together.

"I won't hurt a child, Fisk. Not even if he's a stain on humanity like Spider-Man. I can't."

"Not like this, you can't. For the time being, we need to catch him, first. And I have an idea where that might be."

"Where?"

"Don't you worry about a thing," Fisk towered over a disoriented, muddled Norman before he was pulling a hand out from behind his back, revealing a large syringe filled with a glowing green substance. "You only need to relax."

"No," Norman gasped, back away on his hands. "No, you don't understand! I can't take any more of it, Fisk! Not again!"

"Hush," Fisk snapped, leaning over like a snake going in for the kill before the syringe was being shoved into Norman's neck, successfully silencing him and sending him limply back to the ground in a heap. Norman looked up groggily, his breaths escaping him short. The last thing he saw before he was out cold were the beady, taught eyes of Wilson Fisk, glowering down at him with a sickly sweet smirk.

"We have some spiders to kill."

* * *

"So...How exactly do we go about doing this?"

May tossed Peter a pair of web-shooters, standing directly across from him on the main floor panel in the cave. He caught them on instinct, examining them with interest. 

"Made those myself," May crossed her arms. "You need to get used to the suit, before anything."

"This suit is, like, _way_ more comfortable than the one Mr. Stark made me," Peter said, wincing at his own words and knowing that Tony would reach through however many dimensions necessary to wring Peter's neck. He shrugged the thought off, flipping his hands back and forth before placing the web-shooters on his wrist and clicking them in place.

"Well, that's understandable," May said with a laugh. "He's all about class. Do you really think he's all snug in that Iron-Man suit of his?"

"Good point," Peter nodded, pulling his mask over his face. "So, where do we start?"

"We should probably ease our way into what you're capable of doing before we jump straight to communication from dimension to dimension. Let's start with an easy one."

May waved a remote in her hands that Peter hadn't noticed before, clicking one of the larger buttons and effectively shutting off all of the lights in the Spider-Cave.

"What-?!"

"Can you see, kid?"

"Uh, no! You just turned off the lights, remember?"

"Take the mask off," May replied flatly. "Focus. Make yourself see through it."

Peter groaned in annoyance, though he obeyed, pulling his mask off over his head and opening his eyes with a shrug.

"Still nothing."

"Just focus, kid."

Peter let out another sigh, staring forward harshly. The persistent darkness was beginning to make his ears buzz and his Spider-Sense roar at whatever oncoming danger there was until eventually, he began to make out shapes.

"What the..."

He gasped, stumbling back a bit as he could now make out May, the Spider-Suits behind her, the Spider...car, thingy, suspended in the corner of the room, the couch he slept on suspended to the left of that, _everything_.

"I can...I can see."

Peter could make out the way May grinned, nodding in satisfaction with a distinct knowingness.

"I can see! I can see in the dark! I have...I have _night vision_!"

"Attaboy," May laughed, clicking the lights back on. "I knew you had it in you, kiddo."

"This is amazing!" Peter gasped out with a laugh, his eyes widening as he looked down at his hands. "What else can I do?!"

"It's amazing, isn't it? Taking a chance on yourself?"

"Oh, yeah, it is. I'm totally gonna rub this in Mr. Stark's face when I see him again."

May barked out a laugh, gesturing at his discarded mask on the ground.

"Slide that thing back on. I got some more ideas I'd like to test out on you."

Peter obeyed, narrowly acknowledging May's phone buzzing on the desk behind him. She sauntered over to it, a grin still plastered to her face though as soon as she read whatever notification she had received, her face was pale. Peter's senses began buzzing again.

"What's that, May?"

"Text from MJ," May replied in a whisper, staring at the screen with a wince. "She says...she says that Kingpin was broken out of prison."

"Wait, what?!" Peter had to catch his breath in alarm, quickly making his way over to her. "B-but, I thought that he was being kept in this, like, super obnoxious detention facility!"

"Well, he was broken out by a super obnoxious criminal," May replied firmly, holding up her phone to Peter's face after pulling up a news article online. "Were you followed here, Peter?"

Peter made to shake his head, though his jaw quite literally dropped upon glancing at her screen, displaying a photo of a figure flying in the sky which, though blurry, Peter could make out better than anyone.

"Osborn? He...he-he followed me here?! Wait, wait, hang on a second, how do you know it's not _your_ Norman Osborn?"

"Because ours died in the collider explosion."

"...Oh. Then, I-I guess I was followed here."

"If he's got Kingpin, he could know that we're here," May bit her lip as she brought her hand up to her chin in thought, her face scrunching up. "Okay. In that case, we need to reach out to the others as soon as possible."

"Yeah, uh, how do we do that exactly?" Peter's heart was thudding loudly in his chest as he tapped his foot on the ground repeatedly, trying in vain to swallow the persistent foreboding feeling rising in his throat. He watched intently as May made her way over to the desk, grabbing the blue hoodie that was draped over it. He raised a brow. "That's not mine."

"I know," she deadpanned. "It's Miles'. Now, this is going to seem silly, but this is how we're going to communicate with him. Put it on."

"Woah," Peter gawked with a trace of a smile, frantically sliding the hood over his head. "It's like _Stranger Things_!"

"I mean...yeah, it's pretty strange, I guess."

"N-no, like-never mind. It doesn't matter. So, how does it work?"

"Remember how hard you focused a second ago? Yeah. Do that again. But harder. Think about Miles. Got it?"

"What's he look like? I dunno, I feel like it might help if I know what he looks like, you know? Maybe that's stupid."

"No," May nodded, grabbing her phone again and scrolling through her photos. "That makes sense, kid."

She eventually pulled up a photo of Miles, zooming in on his face and shoving it into Peter's free hand. He accepted, making his way to the center of the panel. He sat on the ground with his legs crossed together, holding the pockets of the hoodie firmly in his grip and staring down at the picture he had placed on the ground. He took a deep breath, frowning down at it in disbelief.

"God, this is super weird."

"No words," May snapped, walking over and giving his shoulders a firm squeeze. "Focus. Relax. Don't think about anything else."

"There is literally nothing more impossible for you to ask of me, but okay."

And for five minutes, the silence was agonizing as Peter made continuous, steadying breaths. He closed his eyes every once in a while before staring back at Miles' face, then focusing his energy on the hoodie in his hands, then closing his eyes again. All an uninterrupted cycle of concentration until suddenly, his Spider-Sense was buzzing, and he was squeezing his eyes shut as a peculiar pain shot through his head. 

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in the Spider-Cave anymore. 

He was sitting on the ground at the Tower, staring at a group of Spider-People all huddled frantically around one particular Spider-Kid in a black and red Spider-Man suit with no mask. The kid looked up to face him with wide eyes.

 _Miles_.

* * *

"You're probably wondering why I called you all here."

"We're not. It's pretty apparent what's going on."

Tony groaned at Stephen's response, halting his persistent pacing to face his guests. Stephen Strange, Bruce Banner, and Scott Lang were all seated on the couch before him, the Spider-Gang all discussing in the kitchen behind the couch with Ned as they all sipped on juice boxes. 

"Okay, then. Fine. Good, actually. I don't have to explain everything to you."

"Well-"

"So, what do we do?"

"First of all," Bruce started, "I would just like to shed light on the fact that I am a bioscience engineer. My strong suit is gamma radiation on humans, _not_ space or time travel."

"Yeah," Scott huffed. "You made that pretty clear with me at the compound."

"Tony, I know what you're going to ask me," Stephen interrupted calmly, crossing his hands in his lap. "And the answer is no. It is quite literally impossible for me to jump through different realities and universes and just pluck your kid out of one of them."

"Do you take me for a dullard?" Tony scoffed, though his posture physically and quite transparently deflated at Stephen's words. "No, no, that's not why you're here. With your combined, er..." he sent a raised eyebrow Scott's way, "... _intelligence_ , I think we can best this."

"Okay, wait," Bruce scoffed, a dumbfounded grin plastered on his face, "before we actually begin this little think tank, can we please stop referring to realities and universes like they're the same? Because, uh, they could not be more contrasting."

"See, Love Muffin? You're helping out already. Explain."

"Obviously I know that, Bruce."

"Yeah, we're not _fifteen_ -"

"No, but I don't feel like you do, and it's going to bother me if I don't explain it to you."

"Seriously?"

Okay, so, this collider, it's created another rift in the space-time continuum. Now, let's take into consideration the Many World Theory-"

"Jesus Christ, here we go-"

"By opening up that gateway, the universes in which Spiders like Peter exist are being continually split into multiple. This isn't the same thing as different _realities_ or-or _dimensions_. That's, like, tea or coffee? That's one split. Cream or black? That's _another_ split-"

"Yeah, we literally all _know_ that, though-"

"Would you like a cookie, yes or no? Yet _another_ split! It just goes on and on and on. No, what we're talking about isn't...realities. Sorry, I just...I have to laugh. The constant splitting of universes from every decision leads to an infinite number of universes. Not...not _dimensions_."

"Yeah. Okay."

"Are you done already?"

"See?" Tony nodded with an impressed grin. "Even the biochemist is getting in on the action. This is gonna work. Now, with that being said, let's think. How can we...how can we narrow down which universe Peter and Osborn crash-landed in? Maybe by local group?"

"That's likely," Stephen nodded. "But, even that consists of thousands of universes. There's still no telling."

"Well, wait," Scott held up a hand. "One of those computers back at Fisk tower said that they had opened up to five different dimensions and compressed them into this one, thus the...Spider-People. So, using the data the collider generated, which is basically just billions of photographs of particle collisions-"

"Sure."

"We get a better understanding of the subatomic world, and we can gather the footage taken by the CMS. We can literally create and record the conditions last common in the universe."

"That also involves reactivating the collider," Bruce added in hesitation. "You know, the black hole? We can't risk reactivating it, you know that. It could cause more rifts. We can't take that risk."

"It could also bring my kid back," Tony said, as if to himself. "And that, I'm willing to take risks for."

"Tony," Stephen spoke softly, "even if we wanted to, the collider belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D. now."

"I'm gonna pretend that you didn't just say that."

"Tony, with your understanding of quantum physics, you know that the only way to open the door for Peter is to reactivate that machine. That could kill us all. _Again_."

"Not if we're smart about it," Tony pressed, his nonchalant demeanor melting away as he frantically knelt down in front of the three. "Look, I don't-I don't think you three understand just how...how _critical_ it is that we get Peter back here before he reaches peak cellular decay. I quite literally tore across this universe to get him back once already, and I'll sure as hell do it again."

The three exchanged perturbed glances, though they didn't have long to think before a faint noise was made in the kitchen, followed by the fretful voices of the Spider-Gang and Ned.

"What's going on?" 

"Talk to us, Miles," Gwen said worriedly.

Tony stood and watched worriedly as Miles had collapsed to the ground, gripping his head. The others were crouched around him worriedly, each holding a hand on his back and shoulders.

"Another glitch, Miles?"

"No," Miles gasped out. "I don't-my head, it's-it's like I can hear someone, I-"

"Just take it easy, kiddo," Peter B. comforted him, though he was sharing a concerned gaze with Tony. "Something's not right, Stark. This isn't a glitch."

Miles' eyes were suddenly snapping open, widening ten times larger than they usually were as he was staring ahead of him, his mouth agape.

"Holy shit."

"What? What is it?"

"I see...P-Peter?"

"What, kid?" Peter B. asked.

"No, not _you_ , Peter. Don't you see him?"

Peter B. frowned, looking forward as the other Spider-People were doing the same, their eyes widening just as large as Miles'. Their heads were each buzzing, gazes all fixed on a particular _something_ in front of them, leaving Ned, Tony, Stephen, Bruce, and Scott to watch in utter confusion.

"You're like me!"

* * *

Peter could do nothing but gape as six...people were staring back at him, their eyes wide and their senses buzzing.

Well, six people plus...

_Ned?_

He didn't know how to explain it. It was as if his mind had taken him back to _his_ universe, sitting crisscrossed in front of these six Spider-Strangers in Tony's kitchen. He quickly backed away on his hands, eyes wide as he ripped the mask off of his head. Miles spoke first.

"I see...P-Peter?"

"What, kid?" the tall one spoke next. Peter's eyes were darting frantically between each person, his heart thudding so loudly he was sure it would rip through his chest. Also, his head was _killing_ him.

"No, not _you_ , Peter. Don't you see him?"

The rest of the Spider-People were now staring back at him, their eyes widening and their senses buzzing. 

He finally found the courage to spoke as he watched their senses buzz above their heads, a strange sense of calm overcoming him.

"You're like me!" they spoke in unison.

"Someone _please_ explain to me what's going on!"

Peter snapped his head back on a dime at Tony's cry, his eyes widening even more as he rose to his feet with a stumble. 

"Mr. Stark!" he gasped, glancing back and forth between the group surround Tony and the group surrounding Miles. "I have...I have _Force Vision!_ Like _Star Wars!_ "

"I don't think they can see or hear you like we can, kid."

Peter frowned at the black-suited one's words in the fedora, glancing back at Tony and deflating as Tony was clearly not looking at him at all, nor were...

_Bruce? Ant-Man? Doctor Strange?!_

"How are you here right now?" the one in white walked toward him, stopping abruptly as Peter flinched away from her extending hand. "And how come we're the only ones who can see you?"

"It's Peter," the tall one spoke up again, this time looking at Tony determinedly. "Your Peter. He's communicating with us with his powers."

" _What?_ " Tony skirted around the couch and rushed forward, standing beside Peter B. and darting his eyes every which way. "Where?"

"You can't see him," Peni explained. "He must only be able to communicate with Spider-People. He can see _you_ , but you can't see _him_."

"H-Hi, Mr. Stark."

"He says hi."

A deep sense of anger washed over Tony as he was sending an accusatory glower toward the Spider-People.

"Are you guys pulling my leg? Because if I find out that you're just trying to make me feel better and tell me he's here, I swear to god, I'm gonna lose it."

"N-no, it's real," Gwen assured, cautiously stepping toward Peter again. He chose not to flinch this time. He felt that he could trust her. She placed a firm hand on Peter's arm, squeezing it as if to assure herself that he was really there. "It's real."

"Is that my hoodie? And are you with May, by any chance?" Miles asked, a knowing smile reaching his lips as the pain he had been experiencing had seemingly melted away.

"Yeah," Peter breathed out, nodding slowly as he let the hoodie drop to the ground. "Yeah, I am. How did you...?"

"Did she teach you this?"

"Yeah. She's standing...somewhere around here? I don't know. I can only see where I am now, not where I actually am..."

"So, you're in my universe," Miles beamed, rising to his feet and walking forward with an extended hand. Peter took it hesitantly. "My name is Miles. Miles Morales."

The other began walking forward, each smiling warmly. Peter gulped, keeping his hand suspended and trying to hide the way that it was trembling in the air.

"Peni Parker."

"Peter Parker. Call me Noir."

"Peter _B._ Parker."

"Gwen Stacy."

"Peter Porker."

Peter gaped at the last one, though at this point, nothing was as surprising as it normally would be.

"Wait, hang on a damn second," Tony interjected, " can someone _please_ tell me what he's saying? And how do you know it's my Peter? Just-just describe him to me, please."

"Uh," Noir began, sending Peter a raised eyebrow. "Curly brown hair, brown eyes, kinda goofy-looking ears, if I'm being honest."

"Hey," Peter cupped his ears defensively. "My ears are not goofy."

"Peter," Tony breathed out, taking a moment to look up at the ceiling and thank whatever god would listen. "Jesus Christ, kid. I've been worried to _death_. I didn't know if you were dead, or alone, or hurt."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Peter said sadly, stepping forward. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have let it come this far. I just-I-I had to protect you. And Pepper, and Morgan. I'm-"

"Can someone please tell me what he's saying?"

"He says he's really, really sorry," Gwen spoke up, not taking her eyes off of him. "He had to protect you, and... _Pepper_...? And Morgan?"

"God, Pete," Tony stepped forward, anger melting away. "I don't want you worrying about any of that right now, okay, kid? We're gonna get you home in no time, buddy. I promise."

"Peter?" Ned stepped forward, fumbling with his hands. He obviously wasn't looking directly at Peter, but he was doing his best to at least try.

"Ned," Peter grinned in relief, rushing forward to touch him and gasping as his hand passed right through Ned's arm. "What...?"

"This is so weird...but please tell me you're okay, Peter. Please. This is...this is my fault."

"No," Peter insisted, shaking his head and swallowing down the thick emotion he felt bubbling within him. "No, Ned, this is not your fault. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."

"He says it's not your fault," Gwen smiled back at Ned reassuringly. "He's sorry that he dragged you into this."

Ned smiled, tears glossing over his eyes.

"I really wish I could hug you, man."

"Me, too," Peter smiled again, though his face paled again as he was looking back at Tony, who was simply looking around in confusion. "Oh, god. May, is she...?"

"Don't worry," Peter B. spoke up, placing a reassuring hand on Peter's shoulder. "Stark here went to go check on her. She's with that Happy guy."

"She's _what?"_

"Again, unimportant," Tony cleared his throat. "Peter, we need to know what's going on, alright, kid? Did Osborn follow you there, yes or no?"

"Yes," Peter nodded frantically. "That's why I'm reaching out. I don't have much time."

"He says yes," Gwen supplied. "He doesn't have much time."

Tony leaned forward in concern.

"How do you mean, kiddo?"

"He broke this universe's Kingpin out of prison. And, pretty soon, they're going to come looking for me. I'm reaching out to ask if you have any idea what their next move could be."

"Osborn broke Miles' Kingpin out of prison," Gwen informed them all with dread. "He says that they're probably coming for him. He needs help. He needs to know if we have any idea what their next move is."

"Shit, kid."

"Alchemax," Miles blurted out, nodding determinedly. "They're there, no doubt. Alchemax has been rebuilding a more advanced and controlled collider there, but... the project got shut down last month. They're rebuilding it there, I know it. And you're right, they're probably gonna be coming for you any minute, now."

"Okay, okay. So, what-"

Before Peter could finish his thought, the Spider-People were glitching, Peter along with them.

What happened next made Tony's entire world stop spinning.

As they glitched, Tony could see Peter falling to the ground on his knees for a split second, like a hologram, gripping his head in agony before he was disappearing. Tony lurched forward, falling to his knees and feeling around the ground for his kid. He felt nothing but air.

"I saw him," Tony choked, breathing heavily. "I-I _saw_ him."

"I saw him too!" Ned cried, rushing to crouch down beside Tony.

The Spider-People composed themselves, rising to the ground with groans of protest. They each gasped upon opening their eyes. 

"He's gone," Peni said sadly, looking around the room just to be sure.

"Dammit," Noir huffed out.

"Just when we were getting somewhere."

Tony slowly directed his gaze up to the three men standing dumbfounded in his living room, swallowing bile and narrowing his eyes.

"Call Fury. We're activating the fucking collider."


	4. quantum physics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for leaving y'all hanging for over a week. that wasn't very cash money of me.

Peter awoke with a jolt, registering first and foremost that May's face was mere inches from his.

Well, not _his_ May. This was Peter's May. Not _him_ Peter, but Perfect Peter. Peter from this dimension. Or alternate reality. Or universe? 

_God, this makes my head spin_.

His head was throbbing. One second he was home, at the tower, and the next he was filling the spot of someone else again, someone who was long dead. He was just blocking another hole in what he had discovered to be an infinite multiverse, setting up shop somewhere that he didn't belong. Apparently, the one in the black and red spider-suit belonged here, and he too was filling this Perfect Peter's spot, giving this version of May an excuse to keep her hands busy and exercise her immense intelligence. In the end, they were just passing through, filling vacant spots, searching for comfort-

"Kid, I swear to god. Snap out of it."

Peter opened his eyes with a grimace, lifting his forearm over his eyes to cover the blinding light above him. It really wasn't all that harsh, but he knew his senses were simply intensifying all feelings in hopes of numbing his brain to the pounding pain that came with each beat of his heart. He could make out the way May's shoulders dropped in relief, could make out the way she sank from her knees to her ass and let out a huff of relief.

"Jesus Christ, Peter. Where the hell did you go just now?"

Peter let out a short laugh, summoning all of the strength that he had left in him to sit up straight. He brought his knees up and rested his elbows on them, making hopeful eye contact with her. She was still frantic, but the relief trumped that more than anything.

"Home," he said fondly, wasting only a moment reminiscing in the memory of being in the tower, seeing Tony and Ned, knowing he wasn't alone in his powers before he was jumping to his feet, crossing to the desk tucked away discreetly in the corner of the floor panel. "And home gave us a lead."

"You saw Miles, then?" May followed hot on his heels. "Was he alright? Where was he?"

"With the other...Spider-People," Peter finished weakly, sitting down at the desk and powering on the computer. "They were in my dimension, and they're with Tony. My Tony, that is. That means they'll be just fine...I think. Also, okay, you were being totally serious about the pig."

"I couldn't have made it up," May rolled her eyes. "You owe me a million bucks, by the way. Now: you mind telling me what kind of lead you were given, exactly?"

Peter snickered, clicking on the browser and typing hastily into the search engine. A sleek, modern-looking building appeared on the screen, an address and business description appearing below it. Peter pointed a finger to the screen, looking up at May determinedly.

"What do you know about Alchemax?"

* * *

There's a distinct feeling you get in your chest when your child is far away from you.

Tony knew it more than anyone. He knew it for an entire five years, though it died down to more of a humming in his head and chest after his grief began to finally dull from a numbing wildfire in his brain to more of a flickering spark that would burst back to a small flame every now and again. He used to feel it so strongly when Pepper insisted on crib-training Morgan. She would sob for hours on end as Pepper would practically tie Tony to the living room couch and forbid him from making a beeline for her room and holding her in his arms until she fell asleep. 

" _You have to understand, Tony_ ," she had said, " _the more we coddle her, the more we answer her every time she cries, the more she relies on screaming to get what she wants. You just have to ignore her_."

Tony thought it was rather psychotic. The paternal surge that made crashing waves in his chest made it feel like Morgan had been on the other side of the world when she cried for him, and he almost always broke Pepper's rules and simply sat with her against his chest. He would cradle her head in his shoulder, sing to her, kiss her, anything to make her feel closer.

To make up for lost time with Peter.

And now...well, he'd gotten Peter back. He tore the universe, moved heaven and earth, and lost a limb getting his kid back to him and May. He figured, after having every single one of his prayers answered, he would return the favor. He would obey Peter's wishes, he would move at the kid's pace, and everything would be fine. If the kid wanted to be treated like a real Avenger, fine. No more Baby Monitors, no more Training Wheels, no more holding his hand.

Zero, zip, nada. The best way to learn is to dive in, headfirst. Tony even replayed the conversation he had had with Peter at the tower, one week after they had stitched the universe back into a whole rather than a half. Tony had barked out a laugh at Peter's insistence to go back out into the field alone. He had refused profusely.

" _Mr. Stark_ ," Peter snapped, " _the only way I'll be able to mature into my powers is if there's no safety net._ "

" _Yeah, Pete, but then there's no safety net,_ " Tony snapped right back, and the conversation had felt eerily familiar. 

Like being in a flying donut, billions of miles from Earth, and having to explain to a fifteen-year-old kid that this was a _one-way ticket._

" _Mr. Stark...I missed out on five years of my life. Five years of being with May, five years of training side-by-side with you. Please, just...I need...let me have this one thing. Spider-Man, I-I wouldn't give that up for the world. I just need to do this one thing on my own._ "

" _We're talking about real danger here, kid. Look; I know how important it is to be the hero, Petey, believe me, I do. But Jesus Christ, why the fresh hell does it make sense to risk your life_?"

" _Because, I-I'm a freaking superhero! It's what I do!_ "

" _No, Peter, you're_ not!"

They hadn't spoken for a few days after that.

Tony groaned, taking a long swig of his scalding coffee and resisting the urge to slap himself in the face to stay awake. He observed his surroundings for the first time in what felt like an eternity, deadpanning at the sight before him. 

He was sitting in one of the offices in the Tower's penthouse, one of the walls being transparent glass through which he could see six Spider-People spread out all around his living room. Peter B. was splayed out on the couch, drool pooling out of his mouth, with Miles tucked into his side. Gwen was sleeping on the couch's edge, her hand lying directly over Peter's eyes. Spider-Noir was hanging from the ceiling like a bat, while Peni and the pig were cuddled into each other's side on the opposite side of the room. 

He didn't know what to think about it. But these people were somehow connected to his kid, so he had no choice but to trust in them, in this process, and hope that the outcome would be his kid, tucked into his side just as Miles was into Peter's.

"Stark."

Tony nearly jumped ten feet in the air as Strange appeared directly in front of him, his calm and cool demeanor remaining even as Tony spilled his coffee and choked on his own spit.

"A little warning would be nice next time, bucko."

"I teleported here in a ring of sparks. What more of a warning do you want?"

 _Smartass_ , Tony rolled his eyes. He sat up straighter, doing a double-take upon nearly forgetting that Bruce and Scott had been asleep in the office as well, slouched back in desk chairs on either end of the conference room table. He glanced back and forth between them.

"What'd you find? Do I need to wake them?"

"Only confirmations of things we know to be true," Strange said with a sigh, taking a seat at the chair across from Tony. He made harsh, uncomfortable eye contact with him. "The only way for Peter to get back to this universe is to activate the collider here and open the door for him, so to speak. But he could be anywhere, Tony, and it's impossible to pinpoint which of the five universes he currently resides in. We need to make contact with the kid again somehow and find a way to activate the collider there at precisely the same moment we activate the one here. If we're smart about this, we can open the door for him without risking opening another black hole here. I'd like to avoid any more space-time anomalies in this universe if I can help it."

"Couldn't agree more," Tony said, though his comfort didn't seem eased in the slightest by the information. Everyone knew at this point the lengths Tony would go to for his family, and opening another black hole under the city was one of them. He hadn't exactly forgotten the fact that Norman Osborne was after the kid in some unidentifiable dimension, either. Whatever their plan was, they had to think it up fast, because time was running out, and with it, Peter's life. Tony would never forget that. "Good, alright, great. So, we need a plan. What's our plan?"

"Rest," Strange said impassively, raising his chin. "We're no use to the kid if we're exhausted."

"We've _been_ no use to my kid this entire damn time," Tony couldn't help the way his voice boomed in the room, wrestling Bruce and Scott from their rather fitful slumber. "What good are we to him if we're all relaxing with cocktails? Hm?"

"Strange is right."

Tony started at the familiar voice coming from the threshold, blinking a second too long in order to allow his brain to catch up with him.

"Cap," he huffed out, nodding in acknowledgment. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Where exactly have you been?"

"Getting you a collider," Steve supplied, tossing a flash drive Tony's way. Tony barely caught it, never once taking his gaze off of Steve as he cupped the device in his hands carefully. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep inhale. 

"Is this...?"

"A goober."

Tony's brain quite literally stopped as Ned somehow appeared behind Cap, fidgeting around awkwardly like he knew he didn't belong there. He looked down in embarrassment, trying his best to offer a comforting smile, both for himself and for Tony.

"I need my best friend back," Ned explained nervously. "I've had this awful taste in my mouth ever since Peter left. Which makes me think, wherever he is, he's probably eating something icky. It's a twin thing, we're, uh, connected and all."

Tony tilted his head fondly at that. It was the exact kind of thing Peter would say. In a strange way, Ned brought with him that familiar spirit that Peter carried around with him wherever he went. It relieved him all over to have that feeling back, even if it wasn't distinctly Peter's.

"I appreciate the help, kid," Tony started, "but this is dangerous. I promise I'll give you whatever you want for rebuilding this override key, but-"

"I just want Peter," Ned blurted out, immediately feeling guilty for interrupting. He cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and clenched his jaw timorously. "Sorry, Mr. Stark. Okay, no, listen to me. Peter is my best friend, and I want to do more than just sit behind some computer to try to find him."

"No offense, kid," Strange began, clearly unimpressed, "but Peter is trapped in the multiverse. He's in an infinite jungle of hell, and it's way too dangerous for you, for any of you to be involved in. If it were up to me, I would handle this myself."

"Not helping, Sorceror Supreme," Tony had physically winced at Strange's words. Ned didn't even flinch. In fact, he stared straight through Tony's soul, unfazed.

"Tony," he said. Tony wanted to make a joke at the kid's use of his real name, finally. He couldn't. "It's Peter."

Tony stood, glancing for half a second at Strange and wanting nothing more than to punch his ruffled expression before nodding Ned's way.

"You had me at goober, kid."

* * *

" _What do you see, kiddo?_ "

"I see a, uh...a _lot_ of forest."

Peter lowered himself down from a tall pine tree, swinging from tree limb to tree limb as he approached the secret lab. It looked as if he was getting closer judging by May's tracker flashing across his vision, but he only felt as if he was simply making his way deeper into an abyss of orange trees and crisp air. No matter how beautiful it looked and felt, though, it was still off in comparison to the forests and air he was used to back home. He couldn't distinctly describe the feeling; he could only acknowledge that with every breath he took, he felt more and more tied to this universe rather than the one he had been raised in for fifteen years.

He also felt good being back in his suit for once. While he had enjoyed the comfort of the other Peter's suit, he felt wrong wearing it. He felt as if he were overstepping somewhere he most definitely didn't belong, and being covered head to toe in a practically different version of him brought him no solace. There was a line he drew at the expense of his comfort. Besides, he felt he knew his suit better than anyone else's, even if he didn't have Karen to talk to after he'd transported to this dimension. May tinkered with it to the best of her abilities, but as long as he was here, there was no getting Karen back.

" _You're getting closer. Just keep going._ "

"Wait, I-I see something. I see it."

Not only did he see it, but he felt it. His Spider-Sense immediately began humming in the back of his head as he went deeper into the forest, spotting the tip of a satellite above the treetops at the peak of his swings. Eventually, he could make out the entire building. It looked vacant. Its sleek exterior was accompanied by the word "Alchemax" displayed on its side in large letters. There was a busted-up car parked outside of it, likely stolen. He narrowed his eyes, swinging down the hill and creeping toward the building.

" _Be careful, kid. They could be anywhere. They know you're in this dimension: they might even be expecting you to come to them rather than the other way around_."

"I know," Peter whispered. "I'm being as discreet as I can for a guy that wears red and blue and _glitches spontaneously_."

" _Ha-ha_."

He landed on a balcony that stuck out on the side of the building awkwardly, his senses still tingling in the back of his mind though they indicated no immediate threat. He approached the door cautiously, craning his neck to see inside and assure that no one stood guard. From what he could see, it looked like a large lobby that once doubled as a food court. Nevertheless, it was completely empty inside, without even a light on inside to indicate human life.

"Will I trigger any alarms by opening this door?"

 _"Just did a scan. You're_ _clear_."

He frowned suspiciously, placing a steady hand on the glass door and pushing it open. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as the building remained silent following his action.

"Okay. Can I get a thermal scan of the building, please?"

" _One step ahead of you_." 

Peter heard typing on the other line before a map was being displayed in his vision, two distinct red blobs catching his eye in what appeared to be an underground laboratory of some kind. 

"Well, that's nifty. Thanks."

" _It'd probably be best to get to the collider through the vents. There are too many security precautions in place if you enter the lab the old-fashioned way_."

"You're telling me that entering through the vent _isn't_ the old-fashioned way?"

" _Yeah, yeah. Now, be quiet. They'll hear you being a smart-ass from a mile away_."

"Yeah, uh, speaking of being smart," Peter crawled up the wall and into the vent, hunching his shoulders as he adjusted and squeezed his way through. "What exactly is the plan here, just one more time? I need a refresher course. I'm not exactly prepared to take these two meatheads by myself."

" _All you need to do is get an idea of their regular ol' bad guy motivation. You get an idea of their incentive, and then you get back here to base. We can work off of what you find out and reach out to Miles again._ "

"Yep, got it. Very good."

He swallowed back the thick feeling of foreboding bubbling up in his throat. He didn't like this plan.

Nevertheless, he continued his crawl forward. The vents were freezing, and he clenched his jaw as tightly as he could, finding that the more he shivered, the more he felt he could sense another glitch coming along. He groaned as his teeth threatened to chatter in the confined space, knowing that any echoing noises he made could be easily detected by Goblin at this rate and this remoteness. 

Finally, after an eternity of inching forward in the vents, he was suspended above the control room outside of the collider, his breath hitching in his throat upon seeing Kingpin sitting there in front of the window overlooking the dome. He was wearing a grey jumpsuit, one that Peter couldn't help but grin at because it was exactly what he belonged in. He belonged in some stupid, plain jumpsuit, locked up behind bulletproof glass and three padded walls. He deserved to grieve and be driven to insanity, to be touch starved, to be forced to live the pain he had caused. 

" _Focus up, kid,_ " May interrupted his thoughts, and Peter could swear she was reading his thoughts. " _And be careful. Please._ "

"Yeah, got it."

He leaned forward through the opening in the vents to try and see whatever Kingpin had displayed on his computer monitor. The eyes of Peter's mask zoomed-in after he double tapped the side of them with his finger. He was able to make out various files scattered about the screen, through which Kingpin was clicking and dragging and opening them. 

"Looks like he's recovering old Alchemax files on the prototype," Peter muttered in disappointment. "I mean, obviously, he's looking to turn the thing on again. Just not sure why he would try to do it again, after everything."

" _Wait_ ," May blurted out. " _Do you see that_?"

Peter narrowed his eyes, focusing in on one particular file left open on the righthand side of the monitor. It looked like a study done on the collider, though every word was in bold, as if the entire file were a warning. 

" _The Dark Dimension_ ," May said in his ear. " _Peter and Tony studied this together._ "

"Well? What is it? It sounds nice."

" _Oh, it's only an inter-dimensional rift. You know, a place beyond time, so vast and cold that it's practically its own universe. It's basically a black hole where the Darkforce resides, making it inescapable to those banished there._ "

Peter gulped, raising an eyebrow. 

"Gee, sounds real homey. But it begs to raise the question: what the hell does Kingpin want with it?"

" _You want my professional, uneducated guess? I assume he wants you there, kid_."

Peter's heart hammered in his chest at the declaration, though it was nothing compared to the fear that almost unmanned him upon realizing that, during May's debriefing, Kingpin had vanished from his chair, seemingly nowhere to be found.

" _What?!_ " Peter whisper shouted, backing away from the vent opening in a vain attempt at remaining undetected. He froze in place, eyes darting every which way as he breathed heavily in and out and tried to formulate a new tactic.

" _Relax, kid. You can't afford to lose it just yet_."

"I'm not-I'm not _losing_ it. I just need a second to think. I already spent five years trapped in a soul stone, I don't exactly want to spend an eternity in the...in the _Dark Dimension_."

"Norm," Kingpin's voice boomed, and Peter couldn't resist crawling back toward the opening in the vent and craning his neck to try and get a good view of Kingpin. He was standing in front of the window again, staring down at an unconscious, human Norman Osborn lying helplessly at the bottom of the prototype collider. The man was wearing nothing but sweats, gagging and choking down vomit. He looked up and glared daggers up at the businessman. "Your little friend ready to come out yet? We've got errands to run."

Norman spat on the ground, marking a distinct pool of red on the white floor of the dome. He never stopped glaring, never shook his unwavering gaze.

"I will fight this," Norman heaved out. "I will not be a monster."

"It's far too late to recalibrate your moral compass, Goblin. No matter what universe, no matter what reality, you always end up this way. You always come crawling back to me."

Norman shook his head frantically, summoning all of the strength and courage he had to rise to his feet, his knees trembling violently beneath his weight. Peter winced sadly at the sight. He had always known this side of Norman, had always been desperate to revive it.

"I will not let harm befall a child, Fisk," Norman's voice bounced again the walls of the collider. "Not even Spider-Man."

Peter was suddenly weighed down by dread. 

_Oh, god. He definitely, absolutely knows._

"Tell that to yourself when you have Peter in your claws," Kingpin leaned forward, venom thickly lacing every one of his words. "Remember that when you have him in your grasp: the so-called innocent child who caused the death of your own son."

"Spider-Man didn't kill my son," Norman shook his head in denial though there was no mistaking the way he suddenly became icy with panic. "My son-my son is alive."

 _Yeah_ , Peter wanted to intervene. _I didn't kill any kids_.

Kingpin leaned forward, a knowing smirk plastered on his tiny, sunken face.

"Not yet."

Norman was suddenly being thundered down with rage, letting out a roar of wrath as his skin began to drastically change color and his body began to grow exponentially in size. Peter was mute with horror, numb and in shock as he could do nothing but watch Norman's terrifying transformation from man to demon. Wings sprouted from his back, a single horn twirled itself out of his skull, claws protruded from his hands, and Peter shrunk into himself at the sight of it, the mere thought of Norman's rage-fueled mutation being directed at _him_ making him suddenly want to hide in a hole somewhere far away from any known Spider-Verse and at least feel some sense of protection.

He knew he could feel that protection around Tony. But that would only put Tony in harm's way.

He was on his own for this one.

" _Oh, hell_ ," May said in his ear, and Peter nearly yelped out loud at the remark. 

"May, Jesus," he hissed out. "I totally forgot you were there."

" _Well, I sure can't blame you,_ " May let out a quick laugh, more of a puff of air than anything else. " _That was pretty traumatic to watch, huh_?"

"No shit," Peter muttered, the scare back to reality giving him enough fuel to decide in favor of some sort of action. He lifted the opening of the vent as quietly as possible, placing it on the floor of the vent and taking a deep, reassuring breath as he looked down at the ground below. He tried desperately to steady himself, ignoring the agonizing wails ripping themselves out of Norman's throat from the collider, ignoring the way Kingpin watched with pure pleasure. He exhaled, lowering himself from the ventilation shaft, making a steady descent to the ground below, halfway there-

And then, convenient as ever, the world ended.

He glitched.

The cry that forced itself out of his throat echoed loudly in the lab as he crashed his remaining descent to the ground below, convulsing and seizing on the ground. He sensed Kingpin whirl around on a dime, though he had no choice but to ride out the rest of the glitch, his cries of pain still helplessly forcing themselves out of him. He finally stopped, gasping and choking on his stomach. He slowly attempted rising to his hands and knees, holding back the vomit threatening his entire body. He didn't get far in the process of sitting up because in a split second he was being kicked back to the ground by Kingpin's foot.

" _Peter?! Peter, dammit, what's going on-?!"_

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Kingpin smiled down at Peter viciously, bending over and lifting Peter up by the shoulders. Peter continued to gasp and sputter out weakly. He was completely unprotected now. He knew, on a regular day, back in his dimension, he could easily out-maneuver his position, take Kingpin down, and be home to May by dinner. But his head was pounding in sharp waves, and his entire body was struggling to recalibrate, and he could barely distinguish Kingpin and May's words in his head, let alone devise an escape strategy in his head. 

All he could do was loll his head backward, watching in his debilitated state as Kingpin drew back his fist, punching him square in the face and knocking him out cold.

_This has got to be the worst alternate universe ever._

* * *

"So, you want us to...you want us to turn on _two colliders_ at the same time?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Uh, how much time do you have?"

Tony shook his head in exhaustion. He didn't know why they were running this plan by the Spider-People, specifically Peter B. He knew very well this kind of resistance, this know-it-all attitude. He knew it plain as day because it was _Peter_ 's, but at least his Peter was a kind, ambitious, eager to learn type of kid with a twinkle still left in his eye despite everything he had been through.

This Peter just sucked.

"No offense, Mr. Parker," Tony began, instantly hating the familiarity of his words, "but I quite literally have my best people in _this_ universe tackling this problem. Bruce, Cap, Natasha, Scott, and Hope are all setting up shop at the collider in downtown Brooklyn, and Strange and I are just here to debrief you all on how this is going to play out. I respect that you've lived this scenario once already, but the grown-ups are talking."

"Checks out to me," Gwen shrugged, glancing in Miles' general direction. He shrugged in return. "You bring Miles' dimension here, temporarily. Peter slips in, we slip out. It really is that simple if we play our cards right."

"I like her," Strange nodded her direction. He didn't smile, though a simple head gesture and a close of his eyes was probably the only recognition he would be giving her. She tried in vain not to take notice of it, brushing off the compliment like it was common for her. Tony didn't doubt that it was.

"So, what now?" Ned's leg bounced anxiously. "I mean, do we reach out to Peter now, or...?"

"Okay, just wait a damn minute," Peter B. raised a hand dismissively. "This is-I mean, it's ridiculous! It's not as simple as-as opening a _door_. It's quantum physics. It's ripping a hole in the fabric of the multiverse, which has been done one too many times."

"Wait, what, how many other times has this happened?"

"Wha-no, it's only happened once. I'm saying that that's one too many. We can't risk doing this again."

"So, what's your solution, Mr. Parker?" Tony shot up from his seat, all but snaking toward Peter B. in an accusatory fashion. "You want to stay here? You want to glitch yourself into oblivion until you dissolve into nothing but ashes? You want to be shredded to your last atom? Fine, you go ahead and do that. You can either show up to the collider, or you can't. We're only telling you how it is. We're not taking class comments."

"Well," Peter B. clenched his jaw, a quiet scoff escaping his lips as he looked out the window of the penthouse, defeated. "If stupidity got us into this situation, it only makes sense that it would get us out."

"We won't have to do any exterminating like last time, right?" Noir asked from the corner, fidgeting curiously with his Rubik's cube. "It sucked balls the last time we tried to shut down a collider. We had company."

"How do you mean?"

"This is a different universe," Miles jumped to supply. "Things are different here. There's no need to think about that being a possibility. Case closed."

"Still," Peni shrugged worriedly. "It can't hurt to be cautious. Kingpin and his army were once only after Fisk's family in alternate dimensions. Now, they essentially have the capability and resources necessary to be a bunch of interstellar scavengers. They could move from universe to universe, destroying Spider-People as they go. If Peter was right about what he told us, about Goblin following him and breaking Kingpin out of prison, then we could be in for...a nasty visit."

"Well," Noir huffed out a laugh, reaching an arm forward to ruffle Peni's hair. "Even this far into the future, the bad guys are as corny as ever."

Tony and Ned's gazes snapped to Strange's in an instant, worry etched onto every corner of their tired faces.

"We won't let that happen," Strange assured, though it was a dry and empty reassurance. Tony bit his lip. 

"Listen," Miles cleared his throat, stepping forward and shuffling his sneakers together awkwardly. "We, uh, we know that this sucks. And we're sorry that your Peter had to deal with the same stuff we did. But none of us really wanted these powers, or asked for them. It just happened to us. We're here by accident. That doesn't mean we won't do everything in our power to help."

"He's right," Peter B. admitted, his head hung low. "As much as it pains me to admit, staying out of this goes against everything I've lived by since Uncle Ben's death." 

"We don't know where Kingpin is," the pig started, and Tony always found that he literally couldn't believe his eyes every time the stupid thing spoke, "or what he's planning. But we know it's big. And if we don't stop him, it'll be our fault. So, yeah. I'm ready to lose it all again if it means taking him down one last time."

Everyone blinked. Nobody moved for a solid minute.

"Well," Tony cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with the pig as much as possible, "you know you're in crazytown when the pig is the voice of reason."

Strange actually looked up and smiled at that, reverting his attention back to Miles with a nod.

"Kid? Think you can communicate with Peter for us?"

"I think so," Miles nodded, his brow furrowed. "May has been trying to teach me forever. But I wasn't doing it right. I know, now. It's all about focusing on the _person_ , not on the powers."

"Here," Ned sat up from his seat, scuffling over to Miles with a sweatshirt and a picture frame in hand. "This is Peter's Midtown sweatshirt, his favorite. A-and here's a picture of him. I got it from May."

Tony physically couldn't resist leaning forward to get a better look at the photo, barely able to make out the kid's goofy ears sticking out of his mop of curly hair. That familiar strength that derived specifically from the warmth he felt in his chest when he was around his kids returned, and he had that brief thought in his head that he always got when he felt high on the feeling that he could take over the world if he really wanted to.

Miles looked to Ned assuringly before positioning himself on the ground, clutching the sweatshirt tightly in his hands and staring at the framed photo of the kid before closing his eyes, feeling the lightning coursing through his veins before a sharp pain was coursing through his head and suddenly, there Peter was, sitting directly in front of him, alive and present. 

Miles wasted only a moment smiling in acknowledgment before his mouth went dry and his bones turned to jelly, taking in Peter's horrified stare as he sat bound to a chair, a gag digging into his cheeks.

"Shit."

* * *

The first thing that came to mind upon waking up was the overwhelming feeling of _blood_ flooding Peter's senses.

It was in his eyes. He could smell it in the air. He felt it in his nose and down his throat every time he swallowed. He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, it would be smeared across the walls like he was in a cheesy Halloween movie.

But when he opened his eyes, it was quite the opposite. The walls were overwhelmingly white, pure, without a single stain on them. They also seemed strangely infinite, stretching above and beyond his head and all around him. 

At that moment, he remembered the circumstances that had brought him here.

Sneaking through the ventilation shaft and into the prototype collider at Alchemax. Norman Osborn becoming the Goblin. Glitching. Falling to his doom.

He couldn't help the jolt that shot through him as he struggled against his restraints, acknowledging now that he was tied to a cold, metal chair, located dead in the center of the collider. There was no Norman in sight, thank _god,_ but he was also missing his mask, which just couldn't be good. He frowned as he struggled to break free from the metal locks over his wrists. He would normally be able to snap them off of him in a split second, so why wasn't-?

"Your time is running out."

Peter was too startled to lift his head at the remark, registering that it had come from behind him and that it was definitely Kingpin's voice. Peter let out a low grunt, dangerously close to a growl.

"And what do you mean by that, exactly?"

"The longer you stay in this dimension, the quicker you will spiral into complete cellular decay. Do you know how it feels to disintegrate, Peter Parker?"

"That actually so funny that you say that because I do."

A snarl escaped Kingpin's throat from behind him. Peter struggled to maintain a composed facade as Kingpin rounded Peter's chair to face him head-on.

For some reason, as a cartoon, Kingpin was even bigger than in real life.

"I take it you recognize me. I, for one, don't recognize you at all."

"Oh, I never forget a face," Peter shrugged. "But in your case, I made an exception. Sorry."

"We are enemies," Kingpin observed, a grimace mixed with an amused grin traced onto his face. "That is our constant. Just as Goblin is my follower. I am his Kingpin. He even tore through dimension after dimension to right your wrong, and he knew only I could help him accomplish that."

"For your information, I have a question. First of all, why are you so _huge_ , man? I mean, I gotta say, I'm impressed."

"Shut up."

"When you back up, do you make a beeping sound? Like a truck?"

"That's _enough_ -"

"When you cut yourself shaving, does marshmallow fluff come out?"

" _You killed my family_!"

Peter stayed as still as possible as Kingpin's hands hovered above his neck, a looming threat of death practically dripping off of his fat fingers. Peter simply puffed his chest out and stared ahead, watching as Kingpin took a deep, composing breath and began looking up and around at the collider.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Kingpin's knowing smirk was back as he admired the handiwork around him. Not his, particularly, but his little slaves, Peter assumed. Peter shrugged nonchalantly.

"The one at home is bigger. And not a cartoon."

"A hyper-kinetic form of energy tied into the forces of universal expansion itself. Clean, affordable, near-limitless power."

"Uh, that's not the impression I got in _my_ dimension. This thing nearly sucked my planet into a black hole. I wouldn't say that's clean _or_ affordable. You do realize that this thing could literally kill everyone, right?"

"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must prepare to see them misunderstood."

"Jeez," Peter frowned, swallowing back the hint of fear that bubbled up in his throat. "You sound pretty familiar. The name Thanos ring a bell?"

Kingpin frowned, unamused.

"Right, shit, alternate dimension. Never mind, scratch that. Forget it. I don't want you getting any ideas."

"I've got big plans for you, Pedro," Kingpin began sauntering away from him, continuing to stare up and out at his invention in adoration. "Would you like to know what I've got up my sleeve?"

"Oh, I love when bad guys monologue. Rule of thumb: you never stop a villain when they're making a mistake. Please, continue."

"I would choose your words carefully," Kingpin warned, rounding back to face Peter head-on. "Ever heard of a cozy little place called the Dark Dimension, Peter?"

Peter's smile disappeared, a sudden rush of anxiety eclipsing his thoughts. Kingpin grinned, feeding off of the kid's mounting fear.

"You see, Peter, all things age. All things _die_. When it all ends, our suns burn out. Our universes will grow cold and perish. But the Dark Dimension...it's a place beyond time. Time does not exist there. At least, not in the same ways it does here. It is where the root of all evil is sourced. It is where the DarkForce breeds."

Peter gulped, tilting his head and watching, studying the man carefully. This time, he heeded his words, choosing his next words with a little more thought.

"What, uh," Peter swallowed again, licking suddenly dry lips, "what does that have to do with-with me? Exactly?"

"This hyper-kinetic masterpiece that we stand before, that we should exalt...it can take us there just like that."

Kingpin snapped his fingers. Peter felt a jolt of ice shoot through his veins at the familiar gesture.

"And, with your DNA and the proper coding, I can isolate those like you across the multiverse. Those with blood genetically spliced like yours. I can literally send billions of Spider-People to the Dark Dimension based on you, and you alone."

Peter chose not to believe him. All he knew was that his heart was lurching, and he couldn't suppress the shudders coursing through him in waves, and he could only describe this feeling as pure, raw fear.

"Hey, well, uh...thanks for the heads up, you know? Cause, you-you probably know better than anyone. I can deal with the unexpected...as long as I'm expecting it."

Kingpin lurched toward him suddenly and swiftly, taking the kid's face in his large hand and sneering in it. Peter grimaced in disgust at the action holding his breath to avoid the toxic breath heaving in and out of Kingpin's tiny mouth. 

"I can't wait to kill one more Spider-Man," Kingpin leered, pulling out a dirty rag from his pocket and tying it around Peter's head, gagging his mouth. Peter didn't break eye contact, maintaining his clever masquerade and clenching his jaw. He watched with venom in his eyes as Kingpin sauntered away from him exited the collider through an almost hidden door in the wall, likely leading to the onlooking laboratory. He spared Peter one final, malicious look before he was slamming the door behind him. 

Peter's head sunk in defeat, feeling completely and utterly bested by an obese man in a jumpsuit. He hadn't even unleashed his Goblin on him either. He groaned, tugging once again rather pointlessly at his metal restraints and feeling his heart thunder louder and louder through his small frame. 

God, May was probably worried to death. She didn't have the resources to conduct a rescue in his name, and it's not like anyone else knew he was here. He also really needed to reach out to the other Spiders again, but he was terrified that he wouldn't know how without Miles' hoodie or his photo nearby. He threw his head back in frustration, biting his lip as his wrists began to bruise with his struggle.

Before he could further wallow in his own self-pity, a familiar ache was shooting through his head, and his eyes were suddenly and painfully snapping open, facing the unwavering and perturbed gaze of Miles Morales clutching his Midtown sweatshirt.

"Shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> make sure you follow my tumblr @mjscornerr just for funsies :-)


	5. the collider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had to finish all of my ap exams before i could start this up again PLUS i got my job back so...sorry for the delay? lol  
> i also just really wanted to clarify my plot and make it as clear as possible because it's kinda...complicated lol. it might make more sense if you've seen doctor strange but i think i cleared it up enough for everyone to enjoy. if you're interested in the multiverse, the astral plane/astral projection, the dark dimension...u will like this chapter.  
> enjoy. this took way too long. i don't know how i feel about it. please comment and give me validation. chow <3

Traveling across the multiverse really took its toll when presented with stressful scenarios.

Peter was aching all over. There was no one main source of pain, no pinpoint. Just a dull yet throbbing pain that coursed through his arms and his legs and his chest.

It probably didn’t help that he was being held against his will with the threat of banishment to a secluded dimension by an obese man with an anger issue.

His shoulders continued to scream in protest in response to the way his arms were strapped behind the metal chair he was bound to. He was shivering, though he didn’t feel cold, and his senses were blaring, though he didn’t feel anymore danger presenting itself soon what with Kingpin working away on a computer in the laboratory and with Norman...

Well, Norman was no where to be found. That would explain the blaring senses.

Regardless, he missed Tony. He wanted to be with him more than ever before. He wanted him to fix this, to reach his titanium across thousands of dimensions and scoop him back into the one he belonged in.

But Tony had enough Spider-People to deal with for a lifetime. He was probably annoyed by the mere idea of Peter now.

But a voice in his head couldn’t help but think that was the most ridiculous thought he’d ever conjured up. Tony _loved_ Peter, even when he disobeyed orders and ran into burning buildings and hid stab wounds. He wanted him to be safe above anything else, regardless of the circumstances that brought Peter to death’s doorstep.

Tony had assured Peter before that the Vulture and everything that happened with it wasn’t entirely Peter’s fault. He screwed the pooch, _hard_ , but Tony made sure Peter knew that this happened to every hero, including himself.

There’s no backing down from a fight when you can do the things Peter can do.

And, of course, whether Peter had boarded the flying space donut or not, he would have vanished to dust. Peter still remembered the night post-battle, sitting on the porch of the lake house and being practically held down in Tony’s arms as he basked in Peter’s presence.

He had said that he was actually grateful Peter had stayed on the ship that day because, if Tony had returned to the Earth after 23 days flying dead in space and Peter hadn’t been there to greet him, meaning he had likely died alone, scared and aware of every piece of his body that faded away, Tony might have had a heart attack on the spot in his weak state.

So, Tony might scream and shout and pull his hair out in fistfuls when Peter returns to his dimension, but no matter what, Tony was out of his mind with love for Peter, and Peter loved Tony more than words could describe. He needed Tony just as he had once needed Ben.

”...ey...eter...Hey, man, snap out of it!”

Peter jumped in his seat, blood pounding behind his eyes. The words being shouted at him sounded distorted like he was underwater, and he swooned a bit in his seat as he tried to associate himself back into his reality.

"Why are you all tied up?"

Peter had to do a double-take, staring ahead as Miles Morales stood directly in front of him, his brow furrowed and his mouth curved in a frown. Peter glanced down at his arms tied behind the chair he was strapped to in bewilderment.

_Oh, yeah._

He assumed that the chair was designed to raise itself up into the proton beam when the collider was activated because it was dead in the center of the collider’s dome, and, well, Kingpin did emphasize pretty clearly that he was planning on using Peter’s body to banish Spider-People across the multiverse to the Dark Dimension.

Jesus, what was his _life_?

He made sure Kingpin and Norman were nowhere in sight before he cleared his throat and spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Because I was probably a little ruder than I needed to be," Peter explained. "And I really, really pissed Kingpin off."

"Yeah, he’s always pissed off," Miles shrugged in understanding. “Probably wasn’t just you. Don’t beat yourself up.”

"What's going on? Miles?"

Peter experienced yet another rather delayed reaction as the room around him seemed to sort of blur in and out of focus into what looked like Tony's penthouse at the tower. His head tilted as the other six Spider-People began filtering in and out of existence, slowly but surely grounding themselves into Peter's reality and taking in his traumatized state.

"Woah, kid,” Peter B. chirped, tilting his head. “what the hell happened to you?"

”Yikes,” Gwen winced. “You look like shit.”

”Th-thanks?” Peter raises a brow, groaning as the pig padded up to him with sad eyes.

”You’re gonna turn the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin grey, squirt.”

Peter blatantly shied away from the pig as much as he could.

Peni was marching up to him now, using her right hand to pry his right eye open all the way and examine his pupils.

”Hey- _ow_ -!”

”Did your Peni-Tingle break?”

”My-huh?”

”Your Spider-Sense. Your enhanced danger radar. Your nerve conduction velocity.”

”Uh...no? I don’t think so.”

”Then how did you get caught?!”

"I swear to god, someone better tell me what's going on in the next _second_ or else I'm gonna-"

"Tony?" Peter spoke over Tony's echoing, ethereal voice, melting in relief as Tony came into vision, practically snarling at the present...spider people?

This was still a little too eerie and supernatural for Peter's liking.

”Don’t worry, sir,” Noir waved a nonchalant hand in the air, speaking over his shoulder to Tony. “It’s just your kid. He’s perfectly fine.”

”He’s really not, though.”

Tony was searching feverishly for someone that no longer existed, and it was shattering Peter's heart like it was turning to dust all over again. He felt tears begin strangely pricking the corners of his eyes, knowing full well that any attempts to talk to him, to comfort him, or to even seek comfort for himself would fall on deaf ears.

"It's Peter," Gwen started slowly, looking down in thought before turning on her heel to face Tony, holding firm eye contact. "Look, sir, you've got to promise not to freak, alright? It's not pretty."

"Just tell me," he pleaded, and Peter found comfort in the trust that he found in Tony's eyes when he looked at her. If he was being frank, Miles and his circus troupe didn't look any more capable of providing solace than the Guardians of the Galaxy did. Gwen seemed like she was often down to the point: something Tony was always vocal about appreciating due to his heart condition. "Please."

"It looks like Kingpin's got him," Gwen sighed, placing two firm hands on Tony's shoulders. "And he's at a collider."

"Mr. Stark, please don't be mad-“

”He’s _what_?”

"I mean-in hindsight, I shouldn't have come here in the first place, and I shouldn't have made jokes about his, uh, _physique_ -that's so unlike me, I swear to god-“

”Peter, can you hear me?”

”I would normally never do that to someone, it's just that he really, _really_ grinds my gears, and I couldn't just let him-!"

"Save your breath, kid,” Noir interrupted. “He can't hear a word."

"Just tell me if he’s okay," Tony demanded, forcing himself between Peter B. and Noir. That same, panicky gaze remained in his eyes as he looked in Peter's general direction, unbeknownst to him. "Dammit, is he apologizing?"

"Yep."

"Talk to us, kid, what the hell is going on?"

Peter made another cautious glance up to the laboratory just outside of the collider where Kingpin was working, though there was still no Norman in sight. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be comforted or terrified by that fact.

"May and I, we decided to check out this Alchemax place after you all told me about it, you know, to see if they were really here, but then Kingpin injected Osborn with this really scary stuff, and I-"

”You’re speaking too fast, kid” Peter B. shook his head. “Deep breaths. You’re gonna be fine. Just go _slow_.”

Peter nodded as calmly as he could, closing his eyes as his shoulders rose gradually and then fell.

”I fell out of a hole in the ceiling and Kingpin caught me.”

Silence. Miles awkwardly shuffled his feet, Peter B. rubbed a nervous hand on his neck, and the pig snorted.

”Well,” Noir huffed, “what we have here is a failure to communicate.”

"Alright, yeah, this isn't going to work," Tony interjected, waving a tired hand in the air. "There's got to be a better way to do this. I need to be able to hear his voice."

”All due respect, Mr. Stank-“

”It’s _Stark_ -“

”-but this is a Spiders only meeting. We’ll just, uh, debrief you later, okay?”

A dark expression washed over Tony’s face as he sent a death glare Peter B.’s way, clearly using all of his strength left in him to not lunge forward and strangle him with his bare hands.

"I'd like to try something."

Peter jumped in his seat as Doctor Strange began filtering into focus, inserting himself into the center of the group of people currently surrounding Peter. 

"Where is he?"

"Uh," Miles waved a lazy hand in Peter's general direction. Strange nodded, closing his eyes. 

"Alright. Nobody panic." 

And then, rather unceremoniously, Strange was suddenly collapsing to the ground, his body completely limp. Everyone, or, at least the Spider-People, wasted only a moment gasping out in surprise before Strange-or Strange's _ghost_?-was taking his place, standing above his body with his eyes closed. He opened them with a jolt, first and foremost acknowledging Peter in front of him. He nodded his way.

"Peter."

"Hi, Dr. Strange."

"Being a cartoon...suits you."

"Thanks?"

"Uh, are we not going to talk about what just happened?” Gwen sputtered.

"Yeah. I mean, what am I _seeing_?"

"My astral body," Strange let out an exasperated sigh.

"Are you...dead?"

"No."

"Are you a ghost?"

"No. Good, now that we've gotten all of the standard questions out of the way-"

"What the hell is going on now?"

"...Right,” Strange sighed loudly. “Stark.”

Strange turned on his heel toward a frantic, confused, impatient Tony, placing his hand on Tony’s chest, although Tony was completely oblivious to his actions in the astral plane.

Strange took in a breath, closed his eyes, and sent a pulsating wave of energy through his fingertips and into Tony’s chest. Tony’s physical body was bowled over onto the ground and replaced by his astral one which, although didn’t look any different than his physical one, was ten times more alarmed than before.

“What the hell,” Tony choked on a gasp, his hands on his chest as his stare darted between his body lying limp on the ground and Strange’s smug face. “What the hell-what did you just do to me?”

”Welcome to the astral plane, Tony.”

Tony continued heaving in deep breaths before he was suddenly standing completely frozen in place as his gaze found Peter’s.

”I hate this,” Peter muttered, hanging his head in embarrassment.

”Peter?”

”Mr. Stark, I-“

“You’re...you’re a cartoon.”

”Yeah. I guess.”

”You’re tied up.”

”Yeah.”

"You're communicating with us...like in Star Wars."

”Are we good here?” Strange huffed impatiently. “I mean, are we good? Can we focus?”

Tony ignored Strange’s annoying persistence and instead lurched toward Peter in an attempt to hug him, or hold him, or even touch him.

But as his hand reached for Peter’s cheek, it was falling through it like it was nothing but a cloud.

Tony frowned, looking at his hand and then Peter’s face like they had betrayed him.

”We may be in the astral plane, but Peter still isn’t in our dimension,” Strange explained with a sigh. “Physical contact won’t be possible here. At least, not for you and I, Stark.”

Tony didn’t respond, instead taking in Peter’s state and acknowledging the chair he was bound to and the way his arms stretched behind the back of the chair in restraints.

”Someone get him out of these ties. Now.”

”That won’t be possible, either. The Spider-People can touch him, but they can’t touch anything else in his current reality.”

”Well, then, use your super strength, or whatever.”

”I can’t,” Peter explained in a breath, his entire posture slouched in exhaustion as his eyes dropped with each blink. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I’m not strong enough here. I don’t know why.”

Tony searched Peter’s eyes in concern before turning back toward Strange and the Spiders for some sort of explanation.

”It must be a side effect of all the glitching and cellular decay. It’s draining his energy.”

Tony took in a composing breath, staring back at Peter sadly before opting to kneel in front of Peter and settle for eye contact being the most intimate he could be in this state.

”I’m sorry, Mr. Stark.”

”Shut up.”

”I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

”I said shut up.”

”Okay.”

Peter chewed on his lip nervously, his shoulders tense as he anticipated screaming, yelling, lecturing on Tony’s part to come ripping out of his throat.

Instead, he clenched and unclenched his jaw, met Peter’s eyes, and instantly melted.

”I’m not mad at you, Pete.”

”Y-you’re not?”

”Jesus, no. I mean, I probably will be when I know for sure that you’re safe, but I’m not mad at you.”

”Promise?” Peter swallowed thickly, blinking away the tears filming over his eyes. Tony softened, lifting his hand to cup Peter’s cheek though he retracted it with a wince upon remembering that it would do no good.

”Just really nauseous and worried and one more stressful scenario away from a full-fledged heart attack, but not angry. I just want you home and safe. I promise, buddy.”

Peter’s lip quirked up in a rather concerned smile, but he nodded nonetheless, a weight he didn’t know existed being lifted off of his shoulders.

”That was touching and all, but let’s focus, please.”

Tony took in an impatient breath at Peter B.’s words, shaking his head.

“Just an FYI, Pete, if this guy over here really is you from the future, we aren’t hanging out anymore.”

Peter blinked as he sent a judgmental glance Peter B.’s way.

”That dude looks nothing like me.”

”Now,” Strange interjected, looming over Tony as he continued to kneel in front of Peter and offer any non-physical comfort that he could. “Explain.”

"Right," Peter cleared his throat as he attempted to tether himself back into his reality. "So, uh, May and I decided to investigate the Alchemax lab Miles told me about. You know, to see if Kingpin and Osborn were really here-"

"Right."

"-And they are, by the way. Thanks for the suggestion."

"You're welcome."

"And Kingpin gave Norman some more of that goblin juice, as I like to call it, and now Norman is a goblin again-oh, yeah, he turned human at some point, by the way, but he's a goblin again-and then I fell out of a vent-“

”Why were you-?”

”-and then Kingpin found me, and he’s planning on activating the collider soon and using my DNA. He claims that, if my DNA is exposed to the collider, he can use it to kinda-sorta isolate all Spider-People with my blood composition in the Multiverse into a realm called the Dark Dimension?"

Strange lost another fraction of his calm demeanor at that, a dark expression falling over his face.

"Uh, English, please.”

"The Dark Dimension," Strange swallowed thickly, his hands crossed in front of him, "is a vast dimension in the Multiverse that is also the source of an energy known as the Darkforce."

The Spider-People each leaned in unintentionally with interest, chilled expressions on their faces as Strange continued to dreadfully recite facts like he was reading them from a book.

"Time does not exist in the Dark Dimension the same way it exists within the regular multiverse and therefore allows it to be the power source of life-extending spells and the remover of mortality."

"Sounds pretty cool," Miles nodded with a nonchalant smile, looking to the others for approval. They didn't appear to be as convinced. 

"It is not cool," Strange corrected, snapping his gaze in Miles' direction. "Unless you're referring to temperature, because it's freezing. The type of cold that kills. And there is a blackness that exists there that is dark beyond dark."

"Okay," Miles swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat, "maybe not so cool then."

"Maybe not for you," Noir scoffed. "Sounds like my kinda place."

"It sounds like... _hell_ ," Ham's eyes creased in worry, only soothed once Peni turned to pet the pig's head.

"So, wait," Gwen shook her head in confusion, "Kingpin wants to _send_ us there? How? Why? What does that mean for us?"

"It means that he wants to banish you to a hostile and unforgiving abyss. One that you will never be able to escape."

"But, again," Peni interjected skeptically, "how is he going to do that?"

"If he programs the collider correctly and Peter's DNA is suspended in the beams...he can use the blood composition to bring you all there like a magnet."

"So that he never has to deal with Spider-Man again," Peter nodded, a painful understanding behind his eyes. “So that he can finally find his family.”

Tony lowered his gaze and stared ahead emotionlessly, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"So. How do we stop him?"

"Well, Tony and I have a theory," Strange began pacing slightly about. "If we activate our collider here at precisely the same moment that Kingpin activates yours, we would be opening a door for you to come back to this universe and for these...Spider-People, to return to theirs."

"Right, but we would be running the risk of being sent to the Dark Dimension if Kingpin is able to activate that collider with Peter’s DNA," Peter B. pointed out skeptically. Strange turned to him with a nod.

"That we do. But I have an idea."

"Which is?"

"I experienced this in the astral realm. The one we're in now. I have my friend Christine to thank, really. Essentially, she was performing a basic procedure on my physical body while I was at battle with a zealot in the astral plain, yada yada yada. Anyway, she used defibrillators on my real body, and my astral body was overpowered by the voltage. It basically became an energy source rather than a living entity."

Peter tilted his head slightly, taking the information in slowly.

"Wait. Are you suggesting-?"

"Miles has the ability to Venom-Strike," Strange continued carefully. "Meaning he can possess the power of more than one hundred million volts in lightning through his fingertips. If you, Peter, astral project right before they start the collider, and Miles strikes you _before_ they can start the collider's beams, your astral body will be overpowered by the energy and will inhibit the collider from isolating your DNA in your _physical_ body, as well as inhibit the collider from banishing any and all Spider-People to the Dark Dimension."

”Explain it to me like I’m five,” Peter offered a sheepish, apologetic grin as Strange huffed, straightening his posture impatiently and crossing his arms. "I'm lost."

”Scary mobster turns on the time machine. Use your Star Wars magic. Communicate with Miles. Miles electrocutes you. You come home.”

"You want me to...venom strike him? Like, with real electricity?"

"No, it makes sense," Gwen shrugged, motioning to Peter nonchalantly. "It's perfect, it-it inhibits the collider's ability to isolate his DNA but lets him come back through the gateway with just enough time. We all go home."

”Nope,” Tony popped the “p” as he shook his head, rising to his feet to face the group. “No. Come up with something else.”

”There is nothing else,” Strange snapped. “And if there was, we wouldn’t have enough time to figure out what it is.”

”We’ll find the time, I don’t care.”

”Stark-“

”No, I don’t want to hear it, okay? He’s in no condition. You said so yourself.”

”Mr. Stark, I’ll be fine.”

”Be quiet, Peter,” Tony snarled, turning over his shoulder to send a venomous glare Peter’s way. “I said you’re in no condition. That’s final.”

”Tony, all due respect, but it’s not up to you,” Strange countered, unfazed. “I understand that you don’t like the plan, but it’s the plan we’re going with.”

”All due respect to you, Gandalf, but the last time you only had one plan, Peter and trillions of others wound up dead.”

”And yet they’re all alive now, aren’t they?”

”After five years of _nothing_ from you and _everything_ from the ones you left here.”

”You wouldn’t have had that chance if I hadn’t taken the risk.”

"So you admit that this is a risk, then."

"Of course it's a risk. He's in another dimension."

"I'm painfully aware of that."

"Guys," Gwen snapped, inserting herself between the two and fluctuating a glare to either person.

"Yeah, let's focus up here, gentlemen," Peter B. sent a glower to the two, softly nudging Gwen out of the equation. "We understand that this is some sort of weird family problem, but some of us have families, too. My fiancee is expecting."

"No way, man! For real?!"

"Yeah. Crazy, right?"

"Oh, my god! This is amazing!

"Congratulations, man. That's awesome."

"How far along?"

"Eh, four, maybe five months?"

"So, you and MJ?"

"Yeah, dude-"

" _Enough_!"

Everyone stilled at Tony's snarl, snapping their mouths closed. The only one unfazed seemed to be Strange, who hadn't ceased his deadly glare on Tony since Peter B.'s tangent. Tony returned it with more vengeance, a fire burning behind his eyes that made Peter shrink into himself when he caught a glimpse of it. Strange sighed, turning to Peter and immediately, habitually softening his gaze.

"Peter?" Strange walked forward, ignoring Tony’s persistence as his eyes glued to Peter's. "You understand this, right? If there were any other way, you know I would suggest otherwise."

"Psh, I can take it," Peter shrugged, his knee bouncing. "No biggie."

"Peter," Tony started cautiously, moving forward to kneel in front of Peter as Strange took a step back. "Kid, you can't do this. I won't let you. Alright? There's no guarantee that you'll make it out of that machine alive."

"There never is," Peter shrugged sadly, Tony's current words offering no solace to him though he recalled Tony's previous ones from several years prior before he had vanished to dust and left Tony to pick up the pieces. "R-Remember what you told me that one time? It's just an...occupational hazard."

A glare captivated Tony's gaze for only a moment before he was smiling fondly at his kid. It was the same smile Tony had been projecting onto him ever since he returned from the Soul Stone, the same one reserved only for Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, and now, Peter. It was the one that Tony would try to fight sometimes but would always fail miserably. It melted his every concern, washed away his every doubt, and kept him in a blissfully ignorant bubble where only he and Peter resided, even if it was only for moments at a time.

"No," Tony shook his head, analyzing Peter's worried eyes, his frazzled hair, his pale...strangely _cartoon_ skin. "Never listen to me, Padawan. I taught you to operate in that grey area."

Peter hung his head with a snort before meeting Tony's gaze once again, offering him a reassuring smile and a nod.

"I'll come out alive...but only for Star Wars movie nights."

"Yeah...okay."

"Cause, I mean, I can't _not_ come back when you're starting to make references like that."

Peter's playful smile fell as he noticed the sudden glossiness of Tony's eyes. He leaned forward in concern, eyes searching feverishly for an explanation.

"Oh, my-Mr. Stark, are you crying? I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to-"

"No," Tony shook his head, bringing his pointer finger and thumb to his eyes and squeezing them closed with a recalibrating, albeit shaky, breath. "No, no, no. Jesus, sorry. I'm not crying. That would be embarrassing if I was."

Strange wasn't convinced. The others didn't seem to be, either.

"Just, uh...You're gonna be okay, Pete. I'm sorry I can't fix this the way I want to."

Peter swallowed thickly, his shoulders falling as he frustratedly tugged on his restraints in a vain attempt to be closer to Tony though the action only weakened him more than he already was.

"I mean, you, uh...you fixed the entire universe once, so, you know. It's okay if you sit this one out, I think."

"I'm not sitting it out," Tony's smile was returning, though it was accompanied once more by glossy eyes. "We're gonna get you home, buddy."

Peter believed him despite it all. Strange let out a weak sigh, clasping his hands together and temporarily distracting Tony from his stupor.

"How much time until they activate that collider, Peter?"

Peter frowned, craning his head back to the laboratory overlooking the collider.

"Uh...hey! Mr. Fisk, sir! How long until you get this thing up and running?"

"Soon. Shut up," Kingpin's voice boomed from somewhere in the back of the lab. Peter shrugged, turning back to the group.

"He says soon if that means anything."

"Then we don't have any time to lose," Strange concluded, turning back to his physical body discarded on the floor. He turned back to Peter, looking him up and down with a huff. "Peter, let's not meet like this again."

Peter nodded with a shrug, looking to the other Spider-People and remembering with a sort of embarrassed wince that they all had to sit through the drama that came with being associated with Peter Parker.

"I guess I'll see you later, then," Peter said to Miles, who nodded awkwardly in return, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah...I'll, uh, zap you later, man." 

"For what it's worth," Gwen spoke up, fiddling nervously with the glove of her suit, "you seem like a good kid, Peter. We, uh, hope this all works out. Right?"

She nudged Peter B.'s stomach. He cursed under his breath, offering a semi-supportive nod Peter's way.

"Y-yeah. Yep. Uh, you'll be fine, kid. Promise."

"Th-thanks, guys. For everything."

Noir tipped his fedora as Peni climbed on his back and stared at Peter sadly. Ham reached up to take Noir's hand. 

Peter turned to Tony again, who was looking wearily up at Peter from his knelt position on the ground with tears still filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, kiddo."

"This isn't your fault, Mr. Stark."

"I, uh, love you, kid. I need you to come back home to me, okay? Just...please."

"Tony, I-"

Before Peter could continue, a glitch was coursing through both him and the six other Spiders, pain-filled screams ripping their throats raw before Peter was vanishing from sight and Tony and Strange were being rather harshly placed back into their physical bodies with strained grunts, the image of Peter glitching out scarring Tony's mind and tattooing itself onto the back of his eyelids.

* * *

"We're making progress."

Tony and Strange followed Steve and Bruce closely down the steps of the laboratory overlooking the collider, examining both the room and the collider up and down intently as they did so. Bruce flipped mindlessly through a clipboard as Steve wandered beside him.

It was painfully obvious how outside of his element Steve was in a laboratory full of super-geniuses.

In fact, upon taking a closer look around the lab, Tony was astounded to see just how many people there were working on rebuilding the collider properly. Both SHIELD and Kingpin's finest were typing restlessly behind computers and drilling into the steep sides of the collider. Tony even had to do a double-take upon noticing that Ned was sitting at one of the three computers positioned at the very front of the lab, hunched over a monitor with concentrated intensity. 

"I thought you wanted to do more than sit behind a computer to find the kid," Tony teased. Ned snapped his head up from the monitor for the first time in what must have been hours, a grin plastered on his face.

"It turns out...that's actually the best thing I can do for him right now."

Tony smiled fondly down at him, clapping a hand on the kid's shoulder and giving it a supportive squeeze.

"Guy in the chair, yeah?"

"Peter told you about that?!"

"Tony," Steve cleared his throat from behind, earning a grunt from Tony. He knew this annoying tone to Steve's voice; it was the one that sounded like a parent chiding their toddler for not listening, the one that tried to convince Tony to return to reality. Or, at least, the reality where he wasn't relishing in the way Ned's jubilant disposition brought with it a familiar warm feeling in Tony's chest that only Peter was able to spark within him. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still listening."

"The collider should be capable of functioning by this evening," Bruce continued, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose. "Ideally, we only have to have it on for about a five-minute window: long enough to get Peter in and the others out."

Tony hummed in acknowledgment, looking out over the collider. Scott was standing at the bottom with a SHIELD technician, pointing and gesturing to the actual collider part of the dome. Whatever he was saying was clearly hot nonsense to the agent.

"We could've really used you here, you know," Fury's voice boomed from the top of the stairs in the lab. Natasha followed him as they walked down the steps. "We had about every genius in the universe here except for you."

"I've already built a time machine for you," Tony shrugged, gesturing to his arm. "One too many for this lifetime."

"Right," Fury huffed, standing at the base of the stairs and sizing Tony up and down.

"Regardless, we got it back up without too much of a hassle," Bruce went on. "Again, we just have to make sure the machine isn't left on for too long. We can't have any more interdimensional rifts in this universe. One was already too many."

"We know it'll be worth it," Fury stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of Tony. He shoved a manila folder in his hands. "Especially if Stark here finally lets Mr. Parker train at SHIELD and do some legitimate fieldwork."

"Over my dead body."

"Fine," Furk smirked, "then this is no longer a favor: you're paying for every cent of this collider."

Fury craned his head over Tony's shoulder, raising his brow at the sight of Ned seated beside one of the main monitors. He hummed impressively at the kid's thorough, meticulous coding displayed on the screen.

"Hey, kid. How would you like to train at SHIELD?"

Ned's jaw dropped.

" _Also_ over my dead body."

Fury turned with a nod, making his way back up the steps of the lab. 

"Well, then. Don't take this the wrong way, Stark, but I hope we don't have to see each other again for a while."

"Me neither. Please take that the wrong way."

Fury snickered under his breath, ascending the steps and turning a corner, leaving the room.

"Well," Natasha sighed, stepping down the remaining steps until she was standing in Steve, Bruce, Strange, and Tony's circle. "Are we gonna get this thing fired up or what?"

"Not yet," Strange spared a cautious glance toward the collider behind him. "We have to wait until Peter reaches out to Miles."

"Reaches out?" Steve frowned, shaking his head. Tony noticed Scott making an entrance into the lab behind Steve's shoulder, making his way to the group in curiosity. "What are you talking about? Oh, wait, are we talking about a different Peter here? The-the adult one?"

"That is _not_ Peter as an adult-"

"Our Peter has the strength and agility of a spider," Strange explained patiently. "He also has the ability to communicate with spiders, including spiders with the same composition of radioactive blood as his. He is able to project his astral body into this dimension to communicate with Miles' physical one."

"...he can do what with the huh?"

"It's called Force Vision," Ned said, not looking away from his monitor.

"What?" Scott tilted his head. "Wait, like _Star Wars_?"

"Exactly like _Star Wars_!"

"Oh, yes!"

The group all paused and turned to an excited Steve, who immediately sunk into himself and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Sorry, sorry. I just-I understood the reference."

"Call it what you will," Strange continued, a pointed glare sent Steve's way as Tony patted the man's back reassuringly, "Peter is going to use it to reach out to Miles at precisely the moment the collider in Peter's dimension is activated by Kingpin. Then, Miles will Venom-Blast Peter's astral body and create enough energy to inhibit the collider's ability to banish the Spider-People to the Dark Dimension. Finally, Peter and the Spider-People will switch places. Simple."

"I'm sorry," Steve shook his head, "but you may as well be speaking another language. I got nothin'."

"Yeah, Steve, let's, uh, go grab some dinner, yeah?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, crossing to Steve and locking arms with him as they turned to leave the lab "There's something we're good at. Dinner."

"We'll get him back, Tony," Steve said reassuringly before he left. Tony nodded in acknowledgment, clearing his throat rather obnoxiously. 

"We have to."

* * *

Peter's foot bounced anxiously beneath him as he watched Kingpin in the lab above, typing furiously into the computer monitors around him. There was still a rather chilling absence on Norman's part, one that Peter was growing more and more apprehensive about. 

"I'm sorry I called you fat."

Kingpin stilled in the lab above, sending a dark glare Peter's way. He didn't grace the apology with a response, simply continuing with his work. 

"It really is unlike me. You probably wouldn't understand-or, I don't know, maybe you would-but I was recently in a situation where I was dead, and then I wasn't, but someone I love was almost dead too, and I was just starting to get back to normal with that person. I took it out on you. I know I shouldn't have."

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"I try not to." 

Kingpin shook his head in disbelief, returning his impatient gaze to the monitors.

"I just need you to know that I _never_ make fat jokes. I'm actually, like, super friendly. It's in the name, you know. 'Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.' Anyway, I just don't want that to sully your image of Spider-Men everywhere."

"Your image was sullied the second you killed my family."

Peter clicked his tongue, nodding in understanding. 

"I figured that would be-yeah. I would just like to say that I didn't directly kill them. If that means anything to you."

"It doesn't."

"Okay."

...

"You know what, if anything, it's kinda... _your_ fault that they were on the road, you know?"

Kingpin snarled, slamming his hands down on the surface of the desk he sat behind.

" _Norman_!"

Peter's heart sank as Norman soared into the room through the windows of the lab, shards of glass flying behind him. He dropped down directly in front of Peter, letting out a ferocious and unforgiving roar that soaked Peter in saliva. Peter squeezed his eyes shut, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he swore it could be heard over Norman's gravelly howl.

"This has got to be the worst alternate dimension _ever_."

Norman finished his tantrum, wrapping his talon-like hands around Peter's throat. Peter fought desperately against his restraints, any past attempts to be calm and cool like Mr. Stark thrown out the window.

"Okay, okay, okay-"

"There's no use, Spider-Man. No one's coming to help you. Not now, not ever."

"No, th-there's usually someone that ends up coming through for me. Just maybe give it a minute."

"Not here. You're too far from home."

Peter choked out a gasp as Norman tightened his hold on Peter's throat.

"Go easy, Norm. I want him to be alive when I banish him and his kind to hell."

Norman let out a snarl, releasing his iron grip on Peter's throat and huffing as he took a step back from the kid. Peter's shoulders hunched over as he coughed painfully into his lap.

"What can I do...to convince you to maybe _not_ do this?"

"You," Kingpin leaned forward over the desk, his glare holding enough venom to kill Peter then and there if he truly wanted to, "can go back in time and stop the car that killed my Vanessa. You can go back in time and convince them that it was _you_ that attacked _me_ , that I'm the same Wilson that she fell in love with and that I'm the same Dad that Richard played pretend with, the same Dad that took him to the zoo and in my private jets and the one that was supposed to teach him how to drive and buy him the most expensive cars and send him to the most prestigious schools. You can go back in time and let me kill you like I should have when I had the chance."

Peter sat completely still, a tunnel vision focused in on Kingpin's beady eyes staring back at his own horror-stricken ones. 

Yet, oddly, Peter understood.

He understood exactly what Kingpin was feeling, what he wanted. He felt it when he thought of Uncle Ben. It was a bit duller now that he had overcome most of his grief, but there nonetheless. There was no love or pain greater than that felt by a parent who had lost their child, or a person who had lost their only family.

Peter felt himself being taken back to that night in the alley, the one he swore he could still see plastered to the back of his eyelids every time he tried to fall asleep all these years later.

" _Stop!"_

_The gunman turned on his heel and sprinted the other direction with all he had, skidding as he rounded the corner. Peter spared only a moment wanting to chase after him before he was turning over his shoulder and staring at the ground in a nauseating horror._

_"Uncle Ben!"_

_He collapsed to his knees and hoisted Ben into his lap, wincing as Ben let out a wet cough. He had a weak hand pressed against a spreading red stain on his shirt right where his chest was. Blood lined the corners of his lips as he opened his tired eyes, finding Peter's almost naturally._

_"What're you...wearing, kiddo?"_

_Peter frowned, glancing down and remembering that he was still wearing his homemade Spider-Man suit, minus the mask. His curls bounced about in the evening breeze, though blood was crusted at the tips. He shook his head, taking Ben's hand firmly in his._

_"Don't-it-it doesn't matter, alright? " Peter pressed a hand on Ben's wound, swallowing down bile as his hand began shaving with violent tremors. "I'm gonna get you help, okay? You're gonna be f-fine."_

_"That okay, Pete. Stay."_

_Ben's lips tugged up into a fond smile as he raised a trembling hand up to cup Peter's cheek, the blood drenching his fingertips smearing Peter's face. Peter stopped his panicked frenzy to face Ben with tear-filled eyes, reaching his own hand up to hold Ben's in place._

_"Pete," he choked out, his breaths becoming more frantic and his eyes glassing over with tears. "P-Peter, listen to me, kiddo. You and your Aunt, you're gonna be fine, okay? You're gonna be okay."_

_"No-So are you. I've got you, Uncle Ben. I've got you."_

_Ben let out a thin laugh, coughing on his own blood in the process. He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed thickly, moving his hand from Peter's cheek to behind his head, cupping his neck._

_"I've got to go on ahead, kiddo. You take care of your aunt."_

_"No," Peter insisted, shaking his head. He placed both of his hands down on Ben's wound, holding it firmly. It didn't look like Ben could feel any pain, which Peter mistakenly decided to take as a good sign. "No, you stay, okay? Don't you dare close your eyes."_

_Ben pulled Peter's head down and kissed his temple firmly, grabbing a fistful of Peter's curls with his sickly, trembling hand. Peter leaned into the gesture, his eyes closing as he inhaled shakily and felt the tears begin to stream down his face._

_Ben's hand weakly released its grip on Peter's head and slipped down onto the wet pavement below._

_His body went limp, and he was gone._

_And fourteen-year-old Peter sat defeated in an alleyway, a bloodthirsty urge boiling in his blood that no kid his age should ever have to feel._

Peter clenched his jaw and hung his head, swallowing around the uncomfortable lump lodged in his throat. He nodded, facing Kingpin yet again.

"Some things across the multiverse are, uh...They always happen, Fisk. Your family, my Uncle, you and I meeting..."

He took in a recalibrating breath, licking suddenly dry lips as he wracked his brain for anything he could say to even remotely convince Kingpin to change his mind.

"But at least when my Uncle died, he got to say goodbye. And at least when my Uncle died, I got to put his killer behind bars. You didn't get to do any of those things, did you?"

Kingpin said nothing, his gaze wandering from Peter to the collider before him.

"You killed Spider-Man, even though he didn't... _directly_ kill your family, but he felt connected to their death, so it felt right. Right? I-I understand that. When my Uncle was murdered, I, um...wanted to kill anyone who breathed in my direction. But I got him justice instead, and nobody else had to die. You can stop this, sir. Your family wouldn't want to see you become this, I know that much."

Kingpin seemed to genuinely take in Peter's words for a moment. He was staring out at the blank white wall of the collider in thought, clenching and unclenching his fist around a ballpoint pen.

With one final thought, he was snapping up from his desk chair and clearing his throat, gesturing to the collider.

"Goblin, get up here. It's time."

The blood drained from Peter's face as he tugged at his restraints only to choke back a gasp as his body began to glitch yet again. He was able to see Norman's doing the same out of the corner of his eye, the beast's ragged snarls ripping out of his throat with a deafening vengeance. 

He coughed and choked weakly in his seat, throwing his head back with heaving breaths, his heart threatening to burst from his chest. All he knew in his head as he began filtering back into reality was _talk to Miles, get to Miles, reach Miles._

He took deep, composing breaths as Norman flew to the lab above.

"Start the sequence," Kingpin barked.

Peter didn't have a photo or a sweatshirt this time-he would probably be getting all of the energy required to talk to Miles through his raw fear for his life and the fate of the multiverse-but nevertheless, he nodded to himself, trying desperately to clear his mind of any and all thoughts that weren't of Miles, a kid he didn't really know well enough to use his Force Vision on, as he dubbed it, but would try his hardest anyway.

"Okay, okay, okay," Peter muttered quietly under his breath, closing his eyes and picturing Miles to the best of his ability, picturing the blue sweatshirt he wore, anything he could muster up in his panic-stricken mind.

Miles Morales. Living, breathing proof that Peter wasn't as alone as he had always assumed. Proof that Peter wasn't some radioactively mutated freak, wasn't some sort of mistake. A reminder that everything that had ever happened to Peter was meant to happen.

Proof that no one sought the powers Peter had. They just got them, like they had been chosen.

"Uploading Peter Parker DNA sequence," a robotic voice said somewhere in the distance. "Beginning scan for dimensional matches."

He eventually reached a state of peace that allowed him to ignore the way his cold, metal chair located dead in the center of the collider's dome was being raised up slowly with a whir, gradually bringing him to the center of the collider and coming to a stop between the direct path of the eventual proton beams that would shoot out of the mouths of the collider's gun-like machines and send Peter to a daunting fate of never-ending darkness. He ignored the way Kingpin barked out orders, the way the machinery around him began to whir to life in a haunting manner, and he even ignored the intense heat he was beginning to feel steaming off of the collider's tips.

Instead, his eyes snapped open with a gasp as Miles was suddenly standing in front of him, wearing his black and red Spider-Man suit and seemingly suspended in mid-air.

"Pete...eter...Peter!"

"Miles?"

"Guys, it's Peter! Start the collider!"

"Can-can you hear me, Miles?"

"Yeah, man. I hear you."

Peter nodded slowly, looking to his right and left as the mouth of the collider's guns roared viciously in his ears. His gaze returned dreadfully back to Miles, who was holding his hands suspended in front of him, waiting for the strike.

"How do we know this is going to work?" Peter blurted out, searching Miles's eyes desperately for an answer. 

"We...don't," Miles shrugged, a knowingness in his eyes that only came with experience. "It's a leap of faith."

"Oh."

Peter chewed on his lip, sending a nervous glance up to the laboratory of the collider.

"We're not gonna give up on you, man. You've got a lot of people back here that love you and want you home. We all have people like that waiting for us. Some of them are still around...and some aren't. Do it for your Uncle Ben, and your dad, Tony."

Peter's cheeks immediately became flushed with a cherry-redness to them as he let out an awkward scoff, shaking his head. 

"Tony is-is _not_ my dad. He's...he's just, like, my mentor."

Miles made eye contact with someone Peter couldn't see, his smile softening.

"Family isn't always blood-related, man. Tony Stark isn't mentoring a hero. He's raising a son."

Peter wasn't sure if it was being in another dimension, or being sandwiched by the whirring of two eventual proton beams, or just being flat-out exhausted, but Miles words knocked the wind out of him. He finally caught his breath, smiled through determined eyes, and nodded.

It was all the indication Miles needed. With his shoulders raised and his hands suspended in front of him, electricity shot out of Miles' hands and directly into Peter's body, ripping a garbled, disjointed cry from Peter's throat as his body jerked around helplessly to the current of lightning coursing through him.

"Secondary ignition," that robotic voice was saying again, "in five...four...three...two...one."

Golden, sparkling radiance shot from Peter's body every which way as the collider whirred to life and shot out great beams of blinding light, colliding straight into him. Peter's eyes widened as he felt himself strangely disassociating from his surroundings, from his chair.

Everything and nothing, all at once.

The last thing he heard and saw was Kingpin's roaring voice bouncing off the walls and Norman's green, clawed hand reaching toward him before blinding light overcame his senses and he was back in that familiar, never-ending cosmos of spider-webbing, moving at lightning speed toward what he hoped to be _home_.

* * *

"Good to go?"

"Yep."

...

"How long? Do you think?"

"Could be any minute now."

"Hm."

...

Tony clicked his pen over and over, his feet propped up on the desk overlooking the collider. Steve sat in a desk chair, leaning back uncomfortably with his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. Empty containers of Chinese takeout laid scattered around the lab. They sat in tense silence, knowing full well that Ned, Scott, Bruce, Strange, Natasha, and the six Spider-People sat behind them in the various desks around the lab, their legs bouncing and their fingers fidgeting and their shoulders raised in suspense.

"Why do you think this always happens?"

Steve tilted his head to look at Tony sitting beside him. He wasn't confused by the question at all: he had asked Natasha the same thing the night of the gala.

"Because we don't sit out of fights. Peter knows that."

Tony rolled his head over on the back of his desk chair to stare at Steve, his brow raised.

"He's a good kid, Tony. He's your kid. You taught him everything he knows."

"No," Tony laughed quietly. "No, no, no. I didn't teach him that. He's just, uh...he's just good. He's a good person. Which I hate."

Steve smiled, though he spared a moment to frown in concern, turning back to Tony quizzically.

"Have you eaten? Or slept?"

"Little here, little there. I've done it, let's leave it at that."

Steve was unsatisfied with the response but sighed in defeat, knowing it was likely all he was going to get out of him.

"Just take it easy, okay? You've still got a heart condition and a stump that hasn't healed yet. Think about yourself."

"I try not to."

"Tony. You've got a wife and daughter."

"Oh, my god. I do."

Steve snorted despite himself at Tony's coping mannerisms, rolling his head back to stare up at the ceiling.

"Sorry, Cap. But when stuff like this happens, suddenly everyone knows how to raise children except for the people that have them."

"That was...surprisingly wise."

"Yeah, well, I'm not a complete dumbass."

"I wouldn't go that far."

Another beat. Steve swallowed, chewing on his lip.

"So...a _multiverse_."

"Yeah."

"There are multiple...universes."

"Sure looks that way."

Steve propped a leg up on the desk in front of him, then the other, his hands resting in his lap.

"I wonder if this world is another world's hell."

"Maybe. It sure used to be."

"Yeah. Makes you wonder if there really is a God out there."

"Jury's out. Y'know, I still think God is cool, but he was the last guy to let me down."

"God could be a woman."

"I don't think God _is_ anything, you know? God just, like, is."

Steve turned to face Tony once more, his face scrunched up as he suppressed a laugh.

"We say this as if we have any _clue_ -"

"Yeah, I don't know either."

Steve and Tony both turned back to the ceiling in sync, the ghosts of their smiles still captivating their gazes.

"I don't know. When I, uh...when I held Peter, you know, when he uh..."

"Sure."

"Yeah. I didn't believe in anything for a while, after that. I'd seen it all. Gods, wizards, aliens, talking trees, six infinity stones. But none of them were any good when we needed them, so I just kinda...I went back to my normal state of thinking. That it was just the Earth, and a solar system, and this galaxy, and a couple of other galaxies around us, and a universe."

Steve hummed in thought, his lip quirking up in a smile.

"It was the opposite for me."

Tony turned to look at Steve again, watching him tiredly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You know, uh, when we went to space to kill Thanos...I had never been to space before. And I went from being this, uh...this a hundred and five-year-old soldier that believed in one God, and one planet, to being..."

Steve looked down at his hands, shaking his head with a dry laugh.

"I don't know. All I knew was that I had Peggy's photo, and I suddenly wondered why I was holding myself back in a universe so infinite."

Tony hummed, his eyes holding more understanding than possibly anyone else around them.

"Anyway...I didn't know what I was going to do if we came back to Earth empty-handed, Tony. I didn't know what I could possibly tell you, how I was going to explain to you that the kid was...he wasn't, uh..."

"Sure," Tony cleared his throat obnoxiously, taking a big inhale and staring out at the collider beyond the window. "You didn't know how to tell me that Peter was gone."

"Yeah. Yeah, exactly."

As Tony stared out at the great mouths of the collider, at the white dome it rested in, so sleek and smooth yet capable of such complete and utter demise, his heart, of course, ached for Peter, longed for him to be as far away from it as possible and never know its destruction. However, he also found himself thinking of that afternoon he would never forget, that day Steve, Natasha, and Scott had changed his entire world once more and reminded him how small-minded it was to live in an ignorant bubble in which only Pepper, Morgan, himself, and planet Earth existed.

_"Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you. I really am."_

_Steve looked past the precious cargo held safely in Tony's arms, past the little girl that filled the gaping hole in Tony's heart and kept it from being blocked up from despondency and grief. Steve looked past all of that, past five years of heartache and anguish, and stared Tony dead in the eye, his eyebrows raised as if his words may just swoon Tony in the right direction and convince him to raise hell and high water for a cause bigger than himself._

_"But this is a second chance."_

_Everything about Steve's temperament screamed "Peter." The worried crease on his forehead, the way his eyes searched Tony's feverishly, the way he, too, held a deep sadness in his heart for Peter, had loved the kid despite everything he had been thrown into._

_"I got my second chance right here, Cap."_

_Tony had returned Steve's intensity because, as much as he loved Peter so much that his heart ached at the idea of him, he loved Morgan just as much, loved the way her hair curled at the ends and the way she was able to make her eyes twinkle just like Pepper's did. He loved the way her room always smelled of vanilla, loved the way she gave everything she owned her own personal flair, like her bedroom or her tent by the garden._

_In his mind, he only knew one or the other. Peter or Morgan. He knew he could never exist in a universe merciful enough to let two of the most remarkable souls he had ever crossed paths with exist in the same time and place. At least, not in a universe where he existed with them, where he was lucky enough to sit and hold Morgan in one arm and Peter in the other, tight enough so that they could never escape the vast recklessness of his love for them._

_"Can't roll the dice on it."_

Tony took in a composing, harnessing breath as he fiddled with the pen in his hand, acknowledging the relieved swell in his chest when he registered that he had been relishing in a past of emptiness and loneliness. The present he knew now, the future he looked forward to every day, was filled with family.

Peter and Morgan, playing tea party in the garden. Peter and Morgan, helping Pepper cook dinner and anxiously awaiting Steve, Rhodey, and anyone else that they brought's company. Peter, running around the patch of grass by the lake with Morgan on his shoulders, their laughs echoing throughout the surrounding forest. Peter, falling asleep on Tony's shoulder as Morgan laid practically swaddled in the kid's arms protectively, habitually.

Peter, terrified of losing one more thing that he loves and distancing himself from Tony, disregarding his resources and going on missions without his Baby Monitor protocol.

"I love him."

Steve raised his eyebrows at that, though that same knowingness remained in his eyes. He turned to Tony with a nod and an affectionate smile.

"We know."

"But I think I might hate him."

Steve let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Uh, no you don't."

"I do. God, I hate him. He's insubordinate, and he's small, and he doesn't think. I mean, not at _all_. Honest to god, I cannot emphasize how little he thinks."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, listening in amusement.

"And his _ears_. Don't even get me started on his ears. Jesus Christ. He's like a cab with its doors open. He could take flight with those ears."

"He does-he does have pretty big ears."

"They're borderline goofy. And he doesn't eat. I swear to god, the amount of times he's passed out in the lab because he hadn't eaten...did I mention that he doesn't think?"

The smile remained on Tony's face as he shook his head, crossing his arms and leaning his head back on the chair.

What I hate about him the _most_ though-he's just-he can't stay in one place for too long. He's always leaving me."

Steve clicked his tongue with a nod, reaching an arm over to clap Tony's shoulder.

"What I've learned," Steve started with a sigh, "is that the world usually ends up being saved after the fact. You know, when people like us come back from wherever we've gone to."

"Yeah," Tony muttered. "But I don't care about the world."

A faint snicker made itself known from behind. Tony and Steve both turned in their desk chairs curiously, though they didn't have to search for long as Ned was obviously stifling a laugh from his seat. He lifted a hand to pardon himself, shaking his head.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just-"

Ned let another laugh escape him. Everyone was sitting up straighter now, their eyebrows raised in anticipation as Ned fisted his hand and kept it over his mouth to extinguish his fit of laughter.

"Peter-Peter is-there are other Spider-People in the multiverse. And one of them is a _pig_. I just-"

Ned threw his head back in a laugh. Steve and Tony made eye contact, registering in the moment that they both had wide grins plastered onto their faces. They both shrugged at each other, turning back to Ned in amusement.

"It's true," Ham shrugged. "I am a pig, folks."

The declaration made Ned laugh even harder than before. He doubled over in his seat, a hand pressed firmly on his knee. Eventually, everyone in the room was at least snickering. 

"You guys," Natasha started with a snort, turning back to the Spider-People perched all about the room, "you guys are-you guys are _cartoons_."

Even Strange's lip quirked up in a smile at that. He shook his head in disbelief, his shoulders bouncing slightly with dry laughter.

"This," Miles gestured around the room, though mainly toward the collider, "this has happened to us before."

The room filled with the sound of their humorless laughs. Tony crossed his arms over his stomach to catch his breath, immediately overcome by a nauseating relief upon discovering a way to suppress his constant, humming concern in a way that didn't involve biting back tears and coping with quips. When Tony laughed again, it was incredibly contagious, because the wave of horselaughs in the room picked back up without anything needing to be said.

"I literally don't know, like, _any_ of you."

The laughter thundered again as Bruce slammed a large fist on the desk in laughter at Scott's words. 

"My best friend is Spider-Man," Ned giggled, tears streaming down his face. "And Tony Stark is, like, his Jedi master."

Tony held his head in his hands, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as his back bounced with laughs. Eventually, their laughter sizzled out, the room finally reaching that same state of awkward, tense silence as a few others let out content "ahs" upon ceasing their chuckles. Gradually, they all leaned back into their seats, waiting once more.

"Well, that was something."

"Yep."

Tony let out a sigh, reaching into his pocket and taking out his phone. He was immediately floored by the wallpaper; a photo of Peter and Morgan both smiling from ear-to-ear at the camera, one hand in a thumbs-up and the other holding small teacups as they sat in the garden. Peter wore a lopsided crown on his head and a feathered, boa scarf, his cheeks littered with various stickers, while Morgan wore a tall Tiara with a mini-arc reactor as the main jewel, red lipstick smeared sloppily across her mouth. 

He huffed out a thin laugh, forgetting what he had originally pulled the device out for and instead shoving it back into his pocket, resting an elbow on the armrest of the desk chair and holding his head in his hand.

"Hey," Steve started gently, leaning forward and placing a reassuring hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony perked up, staring at Steve with that knowing smile, like Steve was about to say something stupidly wise and reassuring to him and suddenly everything would be fixed. "We did whatever it took to get him back once. You can be damn sure that we'll do it again."

Tony stared at Steve endearingly as he clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder, squeezing it as he nodded repetitively and cleared his throat.

"Yeah."

"Uh, guys?"

Steve and Tony perked, turning back over their shoulders. Miles sat crouched on the ground with one hand gripping the edge of a desk and the other clutching his head achingly. Peter B. and Gwen were hunched over him protectively, checking him over with feverish eyes. Strange turned over his shoulder to face Tony, nodding determinedly his way.

"It's Peter."

Tony and Steve immediately shot up from their seats, making frantic strides toward Miles. The kid stood, recalibrating himself as his eyes snapped open and his gaze became fixated on something that only he could see. Gwen and Peter B. took a step away from him.

"Peter?" Miles was saying to the empty space in front of him, waving his hands in an attempt to get attention. "Guys, it's Peter! Start the collider!"

Bruce, Ned, and Scott bolted upright in their seats and began typing away furiously at their computers, looking out into the collider as it began to brighten to life. There was a pause as Miles melted a bit in relief, though he remained in a fighting position, nodding as if listening to someone speaking in front of him.

"Yeah, man. I hear you."

"Alright, here we go, people," Tony started, clapping his hands together and ignoring the longing in his heart to speak to Peter like Miles was. "Spider-Kids, get out there and into that collider. Take the override key, plug it in as soon as Peter comes through, and then get the hell out of this dimension. Miles, tell me the second you see Peter. Jolly Green, Robin, pissant," Tony turned to Bruce, Ned, and Scott at the front of the lab, "stroke those keys."

"What about us?" 

Tony turned to face Natasha and Steve, standing as if at attention. 

"Uh...suit up. Just in case."

They nodded, jogging out of the lab. Strange approached him, his eyebrow raised as he looked out and over the collider. 

"Stark, I need to remind you-"

"Yeah, yeah, moral compass," Tony interrupted him abruptly. "You'll protect this reality over Peter, whatever-"

"Tony," he interjected, waving a patient hand to silence Tony. He muttered his next words carefully, sending a pointed glance toward the Spider-People and attempting to be as discreet as possible. "We get the kid home and shut the collider down before we send the other Spiders back if we have to. Those are my terms."

"Oh," Tony started, frowning though he would take it over what he had initially expected. He glanced guiltily out at the collider as the Spider-People crawled to the top of it, ripping open the override key hatch. "Alright...yeah. Sounds good."

Strange nodded, turning over his shoulder and standing beside the main computers overlooking the collider. Bruce looked to Ned and Scott, nodding gravely at them.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Yep, ready."

"Miles?" Stephen turned behind him. "Are you ready?"

Miles didn't answer. His hands remained suspended in front of him at the ready, though he was staring ahead empathetically.

"We...don't," Miles said to no one. Tony and Strange stiffened as he spoke, listening with interest. "It's a leap of faith."

Another pause. Miles dropped his hands as he looked out into the collider, chewing his lip in thought.

"We're not gonna give up on you, man," Miles continued. "You've got a lot of people back here that love you and want you home. We all have people like that waiting for us. Some of them are still around...and some aren't. Do it for your Uncle Ben, and your dad, Tony."

Tony stilled at Miles's words, vaguely registering the way Ned, Scott, Bruce, and Strange immediately shot surprised looks his way. Tony simply clenched his jaw, biting down another wave of emotion as he clung to Miles's declaration with an iron grip.

Miles laughed at whatever Peter said to him and shot a reassuring glance Tony's way, then past Tony as he made eye contact with Peter B. hanging on the ceiling of the collider, tilting his head at him quizically.

"Family isn't always blood-related, man," Miles said as he continued to stare out at Peter B. and Gwen. "Tony Stark isn't mentoring a hero. He's raising a son."

Tony choked back a mini-stroke. Strange huffed and, with that, Miles raised his hands back in front of him, glanced over to Strange, and nodded with determination.

"Now," Strange commanded.

Bruce, Ned, and Scott each typed something into their keyboards at the same time. A similar pop-up appeared on the screen before they were staring out at the collider with anticipation.

"Secondary ignition in five...four...three...two..."

Miles spread his hands out, electricity flowing out of his fingertips in white-hot bolts and colliding with something in front of him.

"One."

The occupants of the lab stumbled a bit as the collider exploded into a catastrophe of color and brilliant light, sending great streaks of warm energy all about the dome it resided in. Ned brought his hands up to his head as he backed his chair away from the window in disbelief.

"Holy _shit_ -"

Steve and Natasha reentered the lab completely suited up, their eyes the size of dinner plates as they took in the sight before them. They both stumbled to a halt in the threshold of the lab, Steve's arm flying out protectively in front of Natasha though she sent him a pointed glare at the gesture.

"We've got activity in the CMS," Bruce shouted over the roaring of the collider, looking over his monitor and squinting at the center of the proton beam. 

"What kind of activity?" Tony leaned over the monitor and searched the information displayed there feverishly, his brow creased in worry. Bruce frowned, his gaze alternating between the monitor and the collider.

"Not sure yet..."

The proton beams shooting out of the collider's mouths, which had been various pinks and oranges at first, suddenly switched to vibrant reds and blues and yellows before returning to normal. The occupants of the lab and the Spider-People above stilled and watched the center of the collider in anticipation, cautious of moving or breathing and ruining their chances.

The center began to glow a brilliant, gleaming light, the intensity of it reflecting off of the great white walls of the machine before a familiar stream of webs was shooting out of its center. Tony's heart stopped beating altogether as he stared at it with wide eyes.

"Is that...?"

"Webbing," Strange nodded in disbelief.

The strand of webbing was suddenly pulled down with tension as a familiar figure emerged from the center of the collider's beams, flying toward the ceiling of the dome with white arcs of electricity still crackling around its frame. 

"Yes!" Ned cried out, pumping a fist in the air excitedly. "Peter!"

Tony winced as a crackling made itself known in his ear. He remembered vaguely that he was still wearing his earpiece, the one he used to communicate with his suits and the one that, of course, was always open on Peter's channel. His breath hitched in his throat as he raised a finger to the earpiece, his eyes not once leaving the sight before him.

"H-Hello? Peter?"

"... _ister_.... _ark? Mr. Stark?!_ "

"Peter!"

Tony heard a breath of relief on the other line, emitting one of his own. He watched with fascination as Peter approached the ceiling, ceasing his grip on the webbing and reaching a hand up to stick onto the ceiling of the dome. He didn't make it far before a familiar, green, clawed hand was reaching out from the center of the collider, wrapping itself around his ankle and threatening to pull him back inside.

Peter let out a cry of surprise, sending a new stream of webbing up to the ceiling as he looked down in horror at the talons wrapped around his ankle and the angry, red eyes staring up at him from the collider's center.

"Peter!"

"He needs help," Strange muttered under his breath, tapping his wrists together and activating his protective shields before he was flying out of the lab through the windows, turning over his shoulder to face the lab's occupants. "Stark, take Leeds and get out of here. Miles, get to the top of the collider."

Tony watched utterly stupefied as Strange was flying to Peter's aid at lightning speed, sending great beams of orange, glowing light toward the hand wrapped around Peter's ankle. The hand flinched at the energy, releasing its iron grip on Peter only to stretch forward and bring with it the rest of Norman Osborn's mutated, laboratory-bred body, swatting a hand down and sending Strange flying down to the ground of the collider.

"Oh, my god," Ned gasped out, shaking his head frantically and rising from his seat with wide eyes. "Holy shit, holy _shit_ -"

"Tony," Steve's voice boomed as he approached Tony, a dark expression falling over his gaze as he spared Ned a glance. "You and Leeds have to get out of here. It's not safe."

"I am not leaving my kid in there with the Hobgoblin, Cap," Tony snapped, a fire behind his eyes as he registered Peter's voice still filtering in and out of his earpiece. "Don't even fucking try it."

"We've got this handled. You're in no condition. Stand down, that's an order."

"I'm not some soldier, Steve, _Jesus_ -"

" _Look out_!"

Steve, Tony, and Ned instinctively ducked down at Scott's cry of alarm, squeezing their eyes shut as Noir was sent flying through the window of the laboratory, colliding hard with a desk of computers and breaking each and everyone during his fall. He sat up with a grunt, straightening his fedora as the eyes of his mask narrowed.

"Oh, yeah," Noir snarled, his fists raised in anticipation, "This dead hoofer over here just won himself a free Chicago overcoat."

Noir swung out of the lab and toward the heart of the action. Steve, Ned, and Tony watched in astonishment and confusion as he went.

"That was a bunch of hot nonsense."

"Tony," Steve snapped, shoving him toward the door and jogging down to the window of the lab. "Take the kid and get out of here!"

Tony watched Natasha follow Steve to the window as they assessed the situation and plotted their attack. He watched as Peter B. swung down from the ceiling of the collider and snatched Peter in midair with the crook of his arm, swinging him to safety to meet Peni, Gwen, and Ham as Miles landed a kick to Goblin's long nose.

And, he watched in numbing horror as Wilson Fisk himself emerged from the center of the collider, a fist ready for the kill and already lunging to grab Peter out of Peter B.'s hold.

" _Woah_ -!"

Fisk's fist wrapped around Peter's torso with an iron grip and slammed him into the opposite wall. Strange lunged forward, flying up and sending a stream of energy toward Kingpin. Kingpin was blasted away as Peter slid down the wall of the dome, groaning through Tony's earpiece.

"Mr. Stark!" Ned jogged up to Tony with a huff, taking a firm hold of his arm. "We gotta get out of here-!"

"Not me, you," Tony corrected, sliding off his watch and smacking it around Ned's wrist. Ned watched in astonishment as it adjusted to fit him, a blue light glowing on its center. "This is a watch gauntlet. Press this button here, then this one, then point and shoot. It's a little touchy, so watch where you thrust it. You got that?"

"Uh-"

"Sure you do. You probably won't really need it, but it's just a precaution. Get out of here, get everyone out of the building on top of this thing. Don't come back."

"What-?!"

Tony shoved Ned out of the lab and turned back to the window, a dark expression befalling him as he marched toward the window of the collider.

He watched in astonishment as a great light suddenly burst from the center of the proton beams before a strange wave of energy emitted itself from the machine, buildings and cars emerging from the heart of it all at once. Bruce and Scott cursed under their breaths.

"The dimensions are coming to us in clusters," Bruce declared, punching numbers frantically into the computer. "Jesus Christ, this is exactly what we needed to _avoid_ -"

"Does look cool though," Scott chirped, dumbfounded. "Right?"

Tony, Scott, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha all watched with wide, unworldly stares as Kingpin stood on the roof of an emerging building, a large hand pistol pointed down at the window of the lab as he stared at them with a burning fire.

"Surrender this lab," Fisk's voice boomed. "All Spider-Men across the universe have to die at my hand for what they did to my family."

"First of all," Tony shouted back, "get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. Second of all, I don't know if anyone told you this, but guns aren't allowed at superhero fights. Toss the bean shooter and square up, Michelin Man."

Kingpin glared, cocking the pistol. Peter swung down from above and kicked it out of his grip, sending a fist to his nose.

"Check the rulebook!" Peter shouted out, kicking the gun off of the building and far from Kingpin's reach. "You're not allowed to bring automatic weapons to a super-people fight. Everyone knows that."

"Hi, Petey."

"Oh, Hey, Mr. Sta-!"

Kingpin lurched forward and slammed Peter down onto the roof of the building, sending them both crashing down through every floor. Tony winced as Peter's garbled shouts of pain ripped through his earpiece with every floor Peter was forced through.

"Stark," Strange barked, rising so that he was facing the window as he sent a deadly glare Tony's way. "I recall telling you to leave."

"And I recall ignoring it. Thanks."

"Stark, I'm ordering you to go. It's not safe here for you without a suit."

"If I have to repeat myself one more time, I swear to god, I'll be more dangerous than any present threat: I am not leaving my kid here and that's final."

Strange growled under his breath, turning around upon acknowledging that Norman was barreling toward him with his wings. Strange brought him away from the window and back into the heart of the fight, protecting himself with his shields. Steve and Natasha turned to Tony, Steve adjusting his shield on his forearm and Natasha positioning her dual batons into the slots on her back.

"Tony," Natasha started, "try not to be too much of a pain in the ass."

"Too late."

She laughed in disbelief, turned to the window, and hopped out of the open slot. Steve turned to him with a grave expression, placing a hand on his shoulder cautiously.

"I'm going to make sure he's safe but you have to promise me that you will not engage in this fight no matter what. Got it?"

"Yep. Alright."

Tony cleared his throat obnoxiously and avoided eye contact, a clear indication of his deceit. Steve scoffed, turning to the window and looking over his shoulder before he could jump out. 

"I don't wanna hear it. You're benched."

With that, Steve hopped out of the window and slid down the dome's sleek side toward the heart of the battle. 

"Guys!" Tony heard Peter say through the earpiece. "Spider...People! You guys gotta go!"

"Yeah, working on that!"

The seven Spiders were scattered all about the dome, fighting off Norman's swinging claws and Kingpin's raging fists as they continued to send tremors throughout the structure. Buildings, subways, bridges, and more continued to grow out of the portal of the collider in clusters, proving to be a struggle for those present in the battle that couldn't fly or swing webs.

"Mr. Captain!" Peter cried, shooting a web out and catching a rogue cab before it could collide full force with Steve at the bottom of the collider. "You and Natasha can't be in here!"

"We'll be fine, son. Let's worry about you first."

Peter made to protest, though his senses began blaring in his head as he immediately spotted Natasha landing a punch to Kingpin's groin across the way, completely oblivious to the skyscraper tilting in place and shooting down toward her. 

" _Natasha_!"

Peter used his webs to slingshot himself forward, skidding to a stop right beside her and lifting his arms in the air to catch the building before it could crush her. She stared up with wide eyes as Peter's arms quivered under the weight, his breaths staggered and choked out. His eyes widened as he fell down to one knee, the structure following. 

"G-go!" he rasped out. Natasha nodded numbly, scrambling out from underneath it and met immediately by Steve's arms yanking her to her feet. Steve crouched down to meet Peter's eyes, the gears in his head turning as he plotted a way to get him out.

"Kid, I'm gonna take the weight on with you. Got it?"

"N-no, I-I got i-it. G-go."

Peter looked up and spotted a window just beside his hands. He reached a hand over and punched it, the glass shards floating about in the air as he inched toward it. 

"I-I'm g-going to-to climb inside of th-the building. You-you guys h-have to get o-out of h-here!"

With that, he got himself close enough to the window to climb inside, the building slamming to the ground upon losing its support. Peter stumbled a bit as he stood inside the lopsided structure, searching desperately for an exit. He spotted a window directly across from it and made to jog to it, though something stopped him, something out of the corner of his eye, something he sensed almost immediately.

It was a person, an unmistakable, familiar human being that Peter knew more than anyone. Their spirit immediately filled every inch of the sideways room and brought with it a bit of relief in Peter's chest. They were filtering in and out of existence, just like they did in Peter's day-to-day life, but they were distinct and obvious only to Peter's eyes.

"Ben?"

Peter's voice sounded so small suddenly as he stumbled a bit forward. Any acknowledgment of a battle just outside was thrown out the window as Ben finally grounded himself into reality, his panic only increasing when he noticed Peter standing in front of him.

"W-where am I?"

"It's me," Peter blurted out, yanking his mask off. Ben still stood skeptically in front of him, searching Peter's eyes for an explanation. "It's me, Ben. It's Peter."

"Pete," Ben breathed out, taking a cautious step forward. He raised an eyebrow, sparing another glance to their surroundings before grounding himself to reality with Peter's stare alone. "What're you...wearing, kiddo?"

Peter recognized those words instantly. They were the same ones Ben had spoken through blood and bile as he tried to play off his gunshot like it was nothing to protect Peter from the harsh reality of it. 

Peter took in a shaky breath, stepping forward until he was face to face with his uncle. He noticed in that moment that he didn't have to look up at Ben as much as he had remembered doing. He was almost able to make level eye contact with him, which Ben seemed to notice because he was suddenly sizing Peter up and down like he didn't recognize him.

"It doesn't matter."

Ben frowned in concern, reaching forward to wipe the drop of blood trickling down Peter's head. Peter closed his eyes contentedly at the gesture.

Ben shook his head in denial, finally taking in Peter's full get-up with dread as his eyes widened in understanding.

"No, no, no. Peter, what've you got yourself mixed up in?"

"I'm fine, Ben. I'm okay."

"Are you...are you an..."

Peter clenched and unclenched his jaw, avoiding Ben's feverish eyes as he chewed on his lip in thought and attempted in vain to blink away the tears filling his eyes. 

"Uncle Ben..."

"Kiddo," Ben chuckled dryly, clapping a hand on Peter's shoulder and blinking away tears of his own. "Honestly, why am I not surprised?"

A laugh escaped Peter as well, and he was suddenly crashing into Ben, wrapping protective, longing, touch-starved arms around him and taking in fistfuls of his shirt in his hands. 

"I love you," Peter said into Ben's shoulder, taking in a shaky sniff. "I don't want you to go. I don't want you to go."

Ben's arms flew around Peter instinctually, cradling his head with his hand and petting his curls.

Just like Mr. Stark did.

Peter looked forward with glossy eyes, every inhale he took shaking with each tremor of emotion captivating his throat and chest.

_Tony Stark isn't mentoring a hero. He's raising a son._

"I'm so proud of you," Ben whispered into Peter's curls. Peter choked on a breath, absolutely floored by Ben's existence, by his caring disposition, by his paternal instincts that worked so naturally around Peter, a heart that drove Ben on auto-pilot and never once made him question his love for the kid.

Just like Tony Stark's did.

Peter's heart clenched as he held Ben tighter, likely hurting him though he didn't seem to care because Ben was holding him just as tight and gave no indication of wanting to let go.

A large crash resounded from behind. Peter instinctively craned his head over his shoulder, his eyes wide as a subway had seemingly driven right through the center of the building Ben and Peter resided in. Peter turned back to face Ben.

Heartbroken, and not at all ready to say goodbye, Ben was fading away, gone without any proof that he had been there. Peter buckled down at the knees, his chest clutched tight and his heart blocked up. He brought gentle hands up to cradle his heart.

" _Peter!_ "

Static crackled through Peter's mask. He took in a shaky inhale, looking up at the ceiling of the building he sat in and seeing Tony through the windows of the laboratory overlooking the collider. He was staring down at Peter sadly, though his words were laced with persistence and apprehension.

" _Peter, buddy, I know. I know it's hard. But you've gotta get out of that building, okay? It's not safe in there for you_."

Peter sniffled, rising to his feet shakily as Tony's words continued filtering through his earpiece. He composed himself, he listened to the words being poured into him, acknowledged the love and passion fueling them, and nodded to himself, lifting himself up out of a window on the ceiling and assessing the damage done during his stupor. 

Cars and buildings were practically flying everywhere. Goblin and Strange were fighting about in the air, assisted by Ham and Peni. Noir and Gwen were attempting to subdue Fisk as Peter B. and Miles crawled to the override hatch. Steve and Natasha were climbing back through the window of the laboratory defeatedly, benched from the fight and forced to watch it go on without their assistance.

" _That's it, kid,_ " Tony said through his mask. Peter looked up to see Tony smiling down reassuringly at him. " _I'm so, so proud of you, bud. You're almost done._ "

Peter nodded with an enamored smile, pulled his mask down, and shot a web up to the mouth of the collider, slingshotting himself to the ceiling and rushing to catch up with Peter B. and Miles as they made their way to the panel.

"You guys have gotta go, like now," Peter said breathlessly, watching as the two pulled their masks up to expose their faces and following suit.

"Yeah," Peter B. huffed with a nod. "Couldn't back down from a good fight, though."

"Yeah," Peter nodded back. "I'm really sorry you guys got dragged into this."

"Hey," Miles interrupted, holding his hand out. "We weren't dragged into this."

"I mean..."

"We didn't choose these powers. But we have them. We're with you till the end of the line."

Peter smiled encouragingly at that, taking Miles's hand with a shake and watching as Gwen, Peni, Noir, and Ham all swung to the ceiling to meet them.

"You got the key?" Gwen nudged Peter B.'s shoulder, pulling up her mask. He nodded, waving it in his hand. 

"A fully restored, interdimensional goober, comin' right up."

"Wait," Miles shook his head, reaching a hand out to stop Peter B. from plugging the key into the panel. "Peter, man, we're not just gonna leave you here alone with these guys. They could kill you."

Peter glanced back to Strange fighting off Goblin, then to Steve, Natasha, Scott, and Bruce all hunched over a monitor, their glances shifting from the information displayed in front of them to the fight unfolding before them, then to Tony, staring up at Peter longingly, like he was the rarest, most precious, most extraordinary miracle to ever grace the dimension with his presence.

"I'm not alone," Peter replied with a content hum, turning to face the group of Spiders with a melancholy grin. "And it's, uh...it's really nice to know that I'm not as alone as I used to think I was. Thank you all. For everything."

They all nodded in harmony, possibly the only ones in the entire universe that understood Peter in his entirety. They understood the intricate parts of his brain that constantly grieved even in the most intense of triumphs, understood the deep losses that he would carry with him his entire life.

They also understood the one constant in the multiverse for people with radioactive spider DNA: family wasn't always flesh and blood. Families were sometimes better when they were found.

In Peter's case, his family tracked him down, discovered his double life, and grew on him the second he found him. May Parker, Tony Stark, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, even Sam and Bucky: they were his family now. He knew that now, he could accept it as he could still feel Ben's spirit lingering in the dome of the collider. He took in a deep inhale, nodded Peter B.'s way, and watched as he leaned forward, plugging the key into place and clicking it in. 

"Portal's open," Peter B. declared, rather unceremoniously. The group exchanged awkward glances, only broken by Miles's awkward chuckle.

"Deja vu, anyone?"

They all snickered at that. Peni cleared her throat, gesturing to the brilliant streams of light being cast toward each other at lightning speed with a thoughtful gaze.

"It's pretty," she said quietly, turning back to the group with a teary-eyed smile. "Good-bye, everyone. I hope we meet again."

She fell from the ceiling, crashed into the light, and disappeared. Noir shrugged, adjusting the tip of his hat.

"Same order as last time, then?"

Miles, Gwen, and Peter B. shrugged with nods. He nodded back, tipping his hat Peter's way with a wink.

"Stay out of trouble, kid. Or, I don't know, don't. Maybe we can meet again, then."

Peter chuckled awkwardly, and Noir was dropping down into the collider.

”With great power,” Ham started carefully, “comes a lot of complicated stuff that you don’t know what to do with. A great pig once told me that, I thought it only fitting that it should be imparted to you, Peter.”

”Th-thanks?”

Ham nodded, closed his eyes with tears brimming the edges, and descended.

"Uh...anyways. You guys gonna survive without me?"

"I think we'll manage."

Gwen snorted, reaching a hand forward to shake Peter's.

"It was nice meeting you, Peter. I hope we get to meet again...under different circumstances."

"Sure," Peter nodded with a chuckle. "I'd like that. Really."

"You know, you should keep in touch," Miles smirked, tapping a finger to his head. "You know, use your new gift."

"I will," Peter nodded genuinely, holding a fist out in front of him. "You're my dyad in the force after all."

"I'm your what?"

"Wait. Is there no Star Wars in your dimension?!"

"Wrap it up, fellas," Peter B. chirped up, watching the battle below in concern. "It's getting dicey down there."

Peter nodded, his gaze shifting between Gwen and Miles as he took in a breath.

"See you around, then."

"See you around."

Miles and Gwen looked to each other, latched hands, and detached from the ceiling, soaring toward the heart of the beams and vanishing from sight.

"So," Peter raised a brow. "Are you really me from the future?"

"Depends," Peter B. pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Middle school locker combination. Go."

"9-15-7!"

"12-3-5!"

Their amused grins fell. Peter B. shrugged, pulled his mask down over his head, and stuck his hand out for Peter to shake.

"You're lucky not to be me, kid. And I'm jealous that I didn't get to grow up with a kick-ass Jedi master like Tony Stark.

Peter audibly gasped. 

"You _do_ have Star Wars!"

"Of course I do. And if I didn't, I would steal it from this dimension. Later days, kid."

Peter B. winked, unlatched from the ceiling, and dove down, swallowed whole by the portal's light.

Peter let out a sigh, making a move to deactivate the collider once and for all though his senses blaring in his ears stopped him from moving any further as Kingpin was suddenly crashing into him at full speed, sending him flying through the windows of a rogue 18-wheeler.

His head collided with something metal, and his senses suddenly stopped.

He pulled his mask down over his head, swallowing the blood he felt in his mouth as he shot a web out and pulled himself out of the cab of the truck with all of his remaining strength.

Kingpin reached a large fist forward and caught Peter, wrapping his chubby fingers around the kid's small frame and slamming him down onto the emerging top of a bridge. 

Peter closed his eyes, rolled his head over, and watched as Tony stared at him feverishly from the lab below, his mouth moving though his words were nothing but garbled nonsense in Peter's ear. Peter rolled his head forward again, watching tiredly as Kingpin raised two, large fists up over his head, ready for the kill.

Peter suddenly wasn't there anymore. He was with May, cooking spaghetti in the apartment. He was with Tony, tinkering in the lab and expanding his taste in music. He was with Morgan, hanging from her ceiling and making up a bedtime story. He was with Steve and Natasha, training at the Tower.

For a moment, Peter let it all go by pulling Tony's memory close and melting as everything else faded away. For just a moment, Peter was safe in Tony's arms at the cabin, bundled up in his MIT sweatshirt and fiddling with a wooden stick of a juice pop in his mouth.

For just a moment, the last moment before Peter's brain shuts off and he becomes all body, he can't help but think of what a bad idea this is.

Kingpin's fists are swinging down on him. Peter smiles despite it all. 

_Bring it on._

"Peter!"

_**BOOM!** _


	6. this spark in you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter! thank you to all that read and commented and bookmarked. this was my first published fic here and your feedback has been my motivation fuel lol. I've definitely learned more about peter parker's character through some of my other stories, and while I would never take this one down, there are definitely a lot of things I would change about it all of these weeks later if I could. if anything, this story has taught me a lot about characterization, what works, what doesn't, and DEFINITELY about writing with multiple characters and their dialogues. like jesus christ lmfao. sometimes there were like ten characters in one scene. wtf. anyways, please enjoy this finale and stay updated on my page by following me on tumblr @mjscornerr !

When Peter regained consciousness, his entire body was numb to the feeling of _falling_.

He opened his eyes wearily to see that he was still in the collider's twisted, spinning, distorted combination of different realities. Great bubbles of color swam about the dome freely, buildings and bridges and boats and planes and cars dancing around them. Peter landed on top of a runaway subway train, resting for only a moment before Kingpin caught up with him and was crushing him underneath his weight.

He had no idea how Kingpin had managed to follow him here, but all he cared about was keeping him as far away from Tony as possible. 

Strange must have had the same thought in mind because, sure enough, upon turning his head back to the windows of the collider where Tony, Steve, Natasha, Scott, and Bruce stood watching, Peter noticed a large, transparent orange shield hovering over the windows, keeping the occupants inside safe. Peter looked down at the bottom of the collider and met Strange's eyes. The wizard was trying to stabilize the collider's beams with his other hand. He looked to Peter, nodding gravely. 

_Do what it takes_.

Peter nodded back. He got the message loud and clear.

Making eye contact with Tony once more was all the energy he needed to throw Kingpin off of him and land a firm punch to his obnoxiously large nose. Kingpin roared out in anger, the force of it just enough to distract Peter from the clawed hand swooping down from above and latching onto Peter. Peter was suddenly flying through the air again, squeezing his eyes closed as Norman roared down on him and sent great drops of slobber straight into his mask.

"Oh, _gross_ -"

Peter sent a foot straight into Norman's eye, ripping a furious roar from the creature's throat. Norman was releasing his grip on Peter, spinning to the ground before being hit by a runaway 18-wheeler. Peter was falling again, free game to anyone willing to catch and/or kill him. That someone ended up being Kingpin again, because a large fist was wrapping itself around his torso, and he was being slammed into another building.

"I'm done with Spider-Men beating me! I'm done with Spider-Men _existing_!"

Kingpin sent a foot straight to Peter's nose. He felt something crack. 

The one constant was Tony's _screams_.

"Not Spider-Men," Peter corrected with a grunt, propping himself up on an elbow. "Spider-People...and a pig."

That earned him another kick to his ribcage. He felt several things crack at that.

"Strange!" Peter heard Tony scream somewhere in the distance. His voice echoed, giving off the impression that it was everywhere, coming from every direction. "For the love of Christ, help him!"

Peter looked below to Strange again, their gazes meeting. Strange held each arm out in different directions, one shielding the laboratory from harm, the other stabilizing the collider. He wouldn't be any more help to Peter than he was right then, and they both knew it. 

Peter shook his head. Strange nodded in understanding.

"You're small," Kingpin spat. Peter thwipped a web toward Kingpin, but the man caught it, using it to twist Peter's arm and flip the kid onto his stomach. He crawled forward weakly, heaving out ragged breaths. "You're weak. You got no one to help you."

"That-doesn't matter." Peter reached the edge of the building's roof he was on top of, rolling onto his back to face Kingpin once more. "Because...because at least I have family."

Kingpin scoffed, his nostrils flaring. "You don’t know shit about family. Stop pretending that you do."

"No. _You_ don’t know shit about family. You're big, but you're small, too. Just like me."

Kingpin smacked Peter across the face. His head lolled to the side for only a moment before he turned back to the man looming over him, Peter's life in his chubby hands.

"But our sizes don't _matter_. Even our _lives_ don't matter, right? I mean, look around you, okay? There are," Peter laughed dryly, " _billions_ of other versions of us. But we always end up...killing each other. Don't you want to break that cycle? Don't you want this all to _stop_?"

Kingpin thought for a moment. It was that same thoughtful face he had made earlier, when Peter had tried to convince him not to activate the collider and ban him to the Dark Dimension. It implied that maybe the man wasn't all that lost after all. Peter hoped to god he was right.

He wasn't. Kingpin lifted Peter by the fabric of his suit, holding the kid up so that they were eye-level. Somewhere, distantly, Steve and Tony were shouting.

Something over Kingpin's shoulder caught Peter's eye, because Peter was staring into someone else's eyes, someone he had seen just moments ago diving into the collider.

 _Miles_.

He was nothing but an astral hologram, but he was there, and he was Peter's knight in shining fucking armor, even though Peter knew what Miles had to do. He knew deep down what his presence implied.

"Whatever it takes," Peter choked out with a reassuring nod. Miles met his gaze sadly but nodded, a determined smile ghosting his lips as he raised his fingers and pointed them Peter's way, sending white-hot bolts of electricity through his fingertips and into Peter's chest.

Peter closed his eyes, lifted his hands, placed them on Kingpin's chest, and cried out as his body became a beacon of light, the world exploding into a brilliant radiance. Tony's shouts rang out somewhere in the distance as Kingpin was blasted back at lightning speed, his body colliding with the kill switch on the opposite side of the collider and activating it. Peter was sent back too, his weak body colliding with the sleek, steep surface of the collider's dome as he slid down the remaining feet to the ground in a slump, almost lifeless.

As it usually went, Tony was the one to bring him back from the brink.

"Peter! C'mon, kid, you gotta get up! You have to move! _Move_ , Peter!"

Peter frowned and narrowed his eyes, head trailing up until his eyes found Tony's again. Tony was pressing a hand on the orange shield protecting the window, his eyebrows pinched together and his face pale. He wanted so badly to get to Tony, to reassure him that he was okay.

But he _wasn't_ , and he _couldn't_.

Blood was pounding violently behind his eyes. His lungs felt like they were filling up with blood. He couldn't breathe out of his nose, felt stabbing pain in his ribs every time he managed to take in a breath. His very existence felt draining, his body weighing trillions of tons.

 _I can't, Mister Stark. I'm sorry_.

Peter closed his eyes wearily. The last thing he saw were Strange's concerned eyes, the glow of his orange shields surrounding Peter before the world was exploding, and he was gone.

_**BOOM!** _

* * *

When Peter opened his eyes, his senses were overwhelmed with a violent ringing.

It clouded his thoughts and even prevented him from seeing clearly before it eventually faded and he was floating. A never-ending abyss of stars stretched out before him, each star connected by a web. It was that same, seemingly endless cosmos of webbing he had seen every time he fell subject to the collider's twisted game. 

The ringing remained even as he began to hear voices.

"Mister Stark?"

Peter turned over his shoulder at the echoing voice. His body turned too, suspended in a world without gravity. 

It was...it was _him_. He was staring at a hologram of himself, wearing the Iron-Spider suit. His hair was disheveled and his face blood-smeared as he was stumbling forward, crouching down in front of a bleeding, charred Tony.

"Hey!" Other-Peter was saying. His voice was shaking with cries. "Mister Stark, can you hear me?"

Tony's otherwise lifeless eyes seemed to widen a bit at the sound of his kid's voice. Other-Peter was placing an armored hand on Tony's chest, tethering him to the twisted reality. 

Peter had seen this in nightmares before, had avoided sleep like the plague just to bypass experiencing it again, even if it was only subconsciously. He didn't know where it was from until then.

 _An alternate_ dimension.

"It's Peter."

Tony's bloodshot eyes could only stare. Whether living or dead, Tony always looked at his kid like he was some kind of hologram, some kind of puzzling miracle.

"Hey," Other-Peter rasped, his lip trembling. "We won, Mister Stark."

Peter looked away, chewing on the inside of his cheek. 

"We won, Mister Stark. We won! You did it, sir. You did it."

Each intake of breath for Tony was hoarse and strained, picking up pace as Other-Peter's sobs became more and more extreme.

"I'm sorry," Other-Peter cried. Peter's eyes filmed over with tears, refusing to watch. "Tony."

Peter was always terrified of calling Tony by his name. He always wondered why his heart knew deeper sadness than his memory, too. Maybe this was why. 

The scene before him glitched and filtered in and out of existence before, finally, it was gone. He thought he heard Strange's voice booming throughout the cosmos, demanding that he wake, though he lost consciousness before he could distinguish its meaning, swept up by space.

Peter was alone in the stars again, unremembered.

* * *

Tony's world was ending.

 _Again_.

Someone was carrying him. Someone with big green arms, running alongside Steve, who held Natasha in his. Scott was thrown over Bruce's shoulder. 

Tony didn't give a shit who he would be screwing over by trying to get to his own two feet. He was wriggling out of Bruce's arms the moment he regained consciousness. 

Somewhere back, Scott had rolled off of Bruce's shoulder and had collapsed onto the ground in a heap. "Tony, stop-!"

"Peter-where's the kid? Where the hell-"

"Tony," Steve was saying, "it's okay. We think Strange has got him."

That wasn't enough. That wasn't anywhere _near_ enough.

Tony, having finally leaped out of Bruce's arms, skirted around the monster of a man, registering that he was in a familiar hallway. His surroundings were enough of an indication to give him some sense of direction back to the collider. 

"Tony, dammit, that's enough." 

Steve was blocking Tony from going any further, Natasha no longer in his hold. Tony stopped, his jaw clenched as he hesitantly made eye contact with Steve, his eyes glassy. He didn't know why, but the intense feeling of grief, the feeling that he had already lost something precious was clawing at his weak heart, and his throat was constricting before he knew what to do about it.

"Please," Tony said. He didn't know what he was asking for.

"I'll go make sure he's alive. You've got to go on ahead. You're no good to him hurt."

Tony could only stare. Someone was grabbing his arm with a firm grip and tugging him along, but Tony was like a great, unmovable brick wall, an unstoppable force of energy when it came to his children.

"You don't leave that room until you find him, y'understand?" Tony said in a biting whisper. Steve clenched and unclenched his jaw, eyes watching Tony carefully. "Even if you find him and he’s...you bring him home. That is my _kid_."

Steve could only nod as Bruce finally dragged Tony along behind him, an unconscious Scott and Natasha scooped up in one arm as he scooped Tony up in the other.

* * *

Steve stumbled upon the rubble of the laboratory with his mouth parted in horror before he reached the window sill and saw them.

He spotted Peter first. The red of his suit stood out amongst the charred debris, tucked away and hidden beneath piles of smoldering rock. Strange wasn't far from the kid, tossed a mere few feet away from him, sprawled out across the ground. Steve hopped over the window sill without a second thought, sliding down the side of the dome and jogging toward the kid, his breaths fragmented and hectic.

He stopped a mere few feet away from the kid, the same fear he felt in his chest when he realized all those years ago that Thanos had destroyed the stones, any hope of getting this kid back in Tony's arms lost. All he knew was that he couldn't bear to let that happen again.

"He's-he needs-" Strange was coughing on smoke and blood a few feet away. Steve was at his side in a second, holding his arm and searching him up and down in concern. "No, I'm fine. He needs-he's being crushed."

Steve nodded, crossing back to Peter's side and assessing the situation in full.

Peter _was_ being crushed by one of the octagon pieces of the ceiling, his arm twisted unnaturally and the eye of his mask torn clean off. Steve lifted the debris off of him with ease, tossing it behind him and dropping to his knees where he cradled Peter's head in his hand and pressed his other hand against the kid's chest in search of a heartbeat.

He barely felt anything at all. Peter's head lolled sickeningly to the side, his one visible eye shut. Steve clenched and unclenched his jaw as he swallowed down bile and began compressions.

"C'mon, kid. C'mon. Don't do this now."

And he didn't. Against all odds, the kid sucked in a gasp within the first few rounds of Steve's compressions, hunching over his shoulder and throwing up the remaining contents of his stomach onto the smoldering ground below him. 

"Oh, god, that’s disgusting..."

Peter turned back over his shoulder and met Steve's wide eyes, concern taking over almost immediately. 

"Mister Rogers? What's-what's going-is it over? Oh, god, where's Mister Stark-?!"

"He's fine, kid. Just worried about you. It's over. You did good, Queens."

Peter frowned for a moment before falling on his back again and staring up at the ceiling with a hand on his stomach, regaining his breaths. His lip twitched up in a smile.

 _It's over_. That always had such a nice ring to it.

"Peter," Strange breathed out, propped on one knee as he wiped the soot off of his face and held a hand out for Peter to take. "Come on. For the love of this planet, we need to get you to Stark."

Peter's smile grew. The idea of being back in Tony's arms, as uncomfortable as it may have sounded a few days ago, now sounded...safe. It sounded like enough.

It didn't sound like Peter was being weak, or fragile, or out of place. It didn't sound like Peter was taking someone else's place, or like he was just clinging to something he would eventually lose, someone who would die because of something he had done.

It sounded like it made sense. It sounded right. 

But something sitting in the back of Peter's mind took control and, before he knew it, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, and he was crying out in alarm.

" _Look out_ -!"

Kingpin was wrapping a giant fist around Steve's middle and tossing him out of the way, kicking Strange aside before lifting Peter up by the fabric of his suit like a rag doll. Kingpin's beady eyes stared into Peter's wide ones, his nose scrunched in a snarl.

"I can't _wait_ to kill one last Spider-Man."

"No-!"

**_BANG!_ **

Kingpin's eyes suddenly went wide, his grip on Peter lost as the kid fell to the ground. Peter frowned and looked up with a furrowed brow before his gaze trailed dreadfully to the growing pool of crimson on Kingpin's shoulder.

"What...?"

Kingpin turned over his shoulder as he brought one large, trembling hand to cradle it, quizzical gaze eventually finding a human Norman Osborn's, a quivering hand still pointing a handgun his way.

"Norman," Kingpin breathed out quietly, confusion quickly melting into anger as his bloodthirsty eyes zoned in on Norman's face like a laser. "You...you stupid _fucking idiot_ -"

Kingpin was suddenly turning back over his shoulder and falling forward, nearly crushing Peter though the kid had just enough energy left in him to lunge out of the way. The force of his body colliding with the Earth below him shook the entire structure and sent more rubble falling from the ceiling, but the distinct lack of Kingpin's heartbeat in Peter's ears guiltily brought him nauseating relief.

Despite it all, Peter found himself crawling toward Fisk and, although he wasn't from Peter's dimension, although he didn't belong in this one in any capacity, Peter was reaching a gloved hand forward and closing Fisk's eyes for good, swallowing around the uncomfortable lump lodged in his throat.

He wondered for a moment if Fisk had gone where Peter had, had seen some sort of distorted, sickening image of the one he loved, of a reality he feared more than anything on Earth. He hoped it gave Fisk the answers it had given Peter.

 _I hope you find your family out there again_.

Cellular decay took its toll, Fisk's body turned to dust, and he was gone.

* * *

Tony was _furious_.

He couldn’t pinpoint why. He was standing in the streets in front of Fisk tower, sullen, mournful, inconsolable, heartbroken, enraged...the list went on forever. But he didn’t know _why_.

He was constantly feeling, but he didn’t have the strength to accept that maybe it was because, deep down, he knew Peter was probably dead, that no one could survive an explosion when they were that close to the heart of it.

He shook it off and tried again.

The source of his emotions was almost always Peter. The battle for the universe could be traced back to a single source, and that was Peter. Everything Tony knew was that goofy-eared, loveable kid, a kid he couldn't believe that someone like May Parker allowed to call his own.

He swallowed those thoughts down again with finality. They only reminded him that his kid could still be dead.

Tony decided instead that his fury was due to the fact that he wasn't used to being the one on the other side.

He wasn't used to being the one who had to wait, the one who had to watch from the sidelines, suitless and useless. He was used to being the one blasting in from the sky as rock music blared from his suit. He was used to being the knight in shining armor that would fly to the ground, where Pepper waited, though sometimes he landed and he was alone. That normally didn't matter: the point was, it was never like this. 

Now, it was Peter. And his armor wasn't shining, he wasn't unscathed.

Tony was thrown back into reality harshly as a gunshot rang out somewhere in the distance. An earth-shattering rumble followed soon after, then silence. 

For a moment, he only knew mind-numbing _dread_. It was familiar, and all he knew was that he needed to replace it with relief before his heart could give out.

Before Tony could process the noises enough to act on them, Bruce and Natasha were holding him by the arms, keeping him in place.

”Let me go.”

”Tony. Please.”

”Nat, let me _go_ -“

”Tony, I am _protecting_ you, okay? Please, fall back.”

Tony turned back over his shoulder and made venomous eye contact. She returned it, though not with nearly as much fire behind her eyes. Bruce, for one, did let go, and from there Tony was able to shake Natasha off. He made his way to May and Ned first, where they stood near a cop car staring with wide, dreadful eyes at Fisk Tower. May was strong, her chest puffed out as she draped an arm around Ned soothingly. She knew this heartache already, had been preparing herself to brave it head-on ever since she stumbled into her kid's room to find him wearing a Spider-Man suit.

But Tony couldn’t fall into their dread with them. He couldn’t share their grief. Peter was _alive_ , and he wasn’t allowed to be anything else.

Tony knew this without a doubt as he watched Steve carry his kid out of Fisk tower and into the streets, where sirens blared and curious onlookers craned their necks over the barriers to watch.

Steve was holding the kid’s limp body bridal style, followed closely behind by Strange and Osborn. Osborn put his hands in the air and got down on his knees practically the second he was outside, immediately swarmed by police officers. Steve’s eyes were already searching the crowd for Tony.

Tony stared ahead, completely frozen. His kid's suit was torn and bloody in several places, and his arm was twisted like something awful had happened to it. His mask was torn just enough to see the bruises and blood smeared across his young face. He was awake, but weak.

He was also _only sixteen_.

Tony wasn't sure what to do with himself at first. May and Ned were standing beside him as they all leaned against the police car, staring at the doors of Fisk tower just as he had been.

But then the world was nothing but his kid. The flashing sirens, the lights of the helicopters from above, the chatter of onlookers, the gaping hole in the street where the collider had exploded from below...they vanished into nothing as Tony’s eyes locked onto Peter and, finally, he was sprinting forward.

Two police officers grabbed his shoulders. He shook them off somehow, maybe landing an elbow to one of their noses but he was far from sorry for it.

"Let me go! _That's my kid_!"

He was free from anyone else holding him back, Peter's bruised and bloody body the only thing in his sights. As he was breaking out into a feverish, rather obnoxious sprint, Peter was turning his head lazily Tony's way, sleepily watching him before reality seemed to align and the kid was scrambling out of Steve's hold.

Weak, bruised, tired eyes were meeting Tony’s scared and relieved and _worried_ ones and Steve didn't bother holding Peter back once he saw Tony running toward them, allowing the kid to fall to his feet.

Tony's heart broke in two as Peter stumbled a bit upon landing, one arm protectively cradling his other broken one. His mask was still on, though it was torn clean through so that only his left eye, his nose, and mouth were visible. A few of his curls stuck out messily. He was running then, too.

The thing about being separated from Peter was, Tony could never catch his breath those few days he knew his kid was lost in the multiverse. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t focus, he couldn’t for the life of him _breathe._

"Mister Stark!"

" _Kid_ -"

But then Peter was in his arms, and Tony was taking in one full, satisfying breath.

_My kid._

Tony was scooping his kid up in his arms before any other force of nature or freak accident could rip them away from each other again. The relief was nauseating as soon as Peter was wrapping broken and weak arms around Tony's neck. Tony was cradling his kid's head in his hand and breathing him in, past the thick scent of smoke and blood and straight down to _Peter_.

Just like that day on the battlefield, the day Tony's prayers were finally answered, he was looking up at the stars above with glossy eyes, his only coherent thought being _thank fucking god_ before he was clapping Peter on the back.

Tony pulled out of the hug for only a moment just to rip off his kid's mask because _hell_ , he was scoffing, _they can't see you from here anyway_.

He cupped his kid's face, admiring his beautiful existence before he was holding him again.

"You're okay," Tony choked out. A tightening in his throat and a short intake of breath were bringing his lips to Peter's temple as he closed his eyes, warm tears finally breaking through the barriers and running down his cheeks. He tried to stifle the way his shaky breaths quickly turned into relieved sobs, but he couldn’t.

Peter's shoulders were bouncing in Tony's hold as the kid's lip quivered, and Tony couldn't keep himself from bringing the kid in tighter. "You're okay, baby. You're alright."

Someone else was crashing into them. May's relieved sobs were suddenly joining in the fray as Tony and Peter interrupted their reunion only for a moment to make room for her in their hug. May's hand was holding Tony's in place on the back of Peter's head as she pecked kiss after kiss onto his masked face. 

"Oh, thank god," she was whispering, one arm wrapped around Tony and the other wrapped around their kid. She was laughing. It was _contagious_. Peter was even coughing on some of his relieved laughs.

”Easy there, Pete. Just breathe.”

"Peter?"

Peter's head perked up over Tony's shoulder at the sound of Ned's small voice. He fiddled with his hands nervously as he sent a sheepish wave his way. 

"Ned," Peter laughed out in a hoarse voice, tears still brimming his eyes as he motioned his best friend forward. "Get over here, man."

Ned's eyes lit up. He was jogging forward and crashing into the group before anyone could tell him otherwise, readjusting once more to fit him in. 

Peter could've stayed there forever, could've even ascended to heaven right then and there. He was beyond relieved, though, that there was a life full of this waiting for him. He didn't think he would ever get enough.

He coughed after his crying and laughing and trauma caught up to him, his broken ribs _screaming_ in protest. He struggled to catch a breath.

”Peter?” Tony cupped the kid’s face protectively. May and Ned were looking Peter up and down with worried eyes. “Hey, kid, just breathe, okay? Can you do that?”

”I can’t-I think I-“

Peter’s legs gave out. His eyes rolled back. He collapsed.

"Woah, woah, woah-!"

"Peter!"

"Medic! Someone, please! We need some help over here!"

Someone caught him, and he was gone.

* * *

The faint beeping of his heart monitor and the patter of rain against the window woke him.

He was in the tower medbay, his arm in a sling and his head pounding nauseatingly with every beat of his heart. Adhesive bandages were wrapped around his ribcage, explaining the throbbing pain he felt with each intake of breath. Someone was holding his hand. 

"May?"

The owner of the hand stiffened and leaned forward, cupping Peter's face. Peter knew the feeling, knew as soon as he felt it that this was _not_ May.

"Pete," Tony breathed out. He tossed a Stark pad onto the foot of the bed pocketed his glasses hastily. "No, kiddo, I'm not May. Do you want me to go get her? She's just right-"

"No," Peter blurted out. He immediately caught himself, clearing his throat. "I mean, that's okay. Thank you, though. It's fine."

"If you're sure."

"I am.”

Tony’s lip quirked up in a smile as he brushed a few of Peter’s stray curls away from his forehead and leaned forehead, pressing a kiss to his kid’s head. Peter closed his eyes fondly at the gesture.

”You feel rested kiddo?”

”A little, yeah.”

”You scared the shit out of us when you clocked out like that. Are you thirsty? Do you need more pain meds? A nurse? A cheeseburger? A whiskey?”

”I’m...good, thanks. Just a little sore.”

”I’ll get Cho.”

”No, Mister Stark, I’m-it’s fine. You don’t have to do anything.”

”...Alright.”

As hesitant as he was, Tony eventually melted back into his chair, reaching selfishly for Peter’s hand. Peter took it weakly.

”So, um...”

Tony raised his eyebrows, staring at Peter as the kid fumbled for the right words in his aching head. 

”I just, uh...”

Tony squeezed the kid’s hand. He squeezed back.

”Just-Mister Stark, are you gonna yell at me? Because, if you are...can you do it now so that we can get it over with?”

Tony smile grew a bit with a sigh, looking down at his lap as his leg bounced. 

“No, kiddo. I’m not going to yell. I think that’s more up your Aunt’s alley now.”

”Oh.”

Silence. The beeping of Peter’s monitor slowed a bit as he relaxed into his pillow, though he winced in pain as the pressure on his ribs increased.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you though.”

”Mad?”

”Yeah, mad. You’ve been hacking your suit for _years_ and I didn’t know. Plus, you know, all the nightmare fuel you've given me is just...absurd. Zero points for all the dramatic flairs. You know, the getting sucked into interdimensional portals, the turning into a cartoon, the getting kidnapped...The list goes on a stupid amount.”

Peter winced again. He made apologetic eye contact with Tony, who seemed to get the message if only partially.

"If it makes you feel any better...being a cartoon really sucked."

"It does. Thanks."

A pause. Peter fiddled awkwardly with a loose string on his blanket. 

“I never, ever should’ve let you go off and...I shouldn’t have let you do what you did alone. I guess I thought...I guess I thought that maybe you could handle yourself on your own, and that the space would do you some good, but...giving you space just...hurt you.”

Tony stared at Peter for a moment at that, looking him up and down and studying every bruise and scratch and cast on his kid’s body with deep sorrow. He wished so badly to take them away, to inflict them on himself instead. Peter shrunk into himself.

“It almost killed you _again_ , after everything, and I can’t-I can’t do that again, Peter. Can't let it happen. I won’t.”

”Yeah...yeah. I’m sorry, Mister Stark.”

”Shut up.”

”Okay.”

”I’m not trying to make you guilty, kid. And I’m sure as hell not saying you should quit Spider-Man."

Peter relaxed a bit at that. Tony smiled. The amount of _himself_ that he saw in this kid was ridiculous.

"But I’m not letting you do it alone anymore. Can’t afford to keep rolling the dice on it, kid. From now on, you’re going to have me, no matter what it is. Anytime, anywhere, I’m there for you. Got it?”

”Yes, sir.”

”You sure? Because I swear to god, kid, the next time you get hurt the way you have been and you go to _Ned_ for help? There's a reason he's just the guy in the chair. I might just die on the spot. Literally, you will be the death of me.”

”I promise, Mister Stark. It turns out...well, the space was corrosive, and I hated it.”

Tony’s smile was back. He leaned forward and ruffled his kid’s hair playfully.

”Wait- _ouch_ , Mister Stark. Concussion.”

”Oh, shit-sorry, Webhead. _Now_ can I get you a nurse? Please?”

Peter’s gaze trailed to the door. His eyes softened.

”No need. There’s one already here.”

May stood in the door with her hands on her chest and a wild smile gracing her face, immediately flying forward and throwing herself around her kid. He once again muffled a groan of pain and instead wrapped his good arm around her, breathing her in.

”Oh, baby, I’m so glad you’re okay...”

”I’m sorry, May. I’m sorry.”

”Oh...”

She pulled out of the hug. She cupped his cheek, brushing a thumb under his eye. She was loving. She was sincere.

Then, her face twisted into something furious, and her once comforting hand was now reaching down and pulling on his ear.

”But what the hell were you _thinking_?!”

”May-!”

”What was going through your brain?! Knucklehead! What in the hell prompted you to throw yourself into a _literal time machine_?!”

”Actually, I can vouch for him on that one,” Tony interrupted, sympathetic gaze glued to Peter’s burning red ear. “He didn’t throw himself. He was pulled into it by a giant green monster. Also, it was a dimensional collider, not a time machine.”

”Oh, yeah,” May snapped. “Well, that just makes _everything_ okay, doesn’t it?”

”...I thought it might, but now I’m not so sure.”

”You’re not off the hook either.” Her other hand was reaching forward and grabbing Tony’s ear. “We always said we wouldn’t check his baby monitor, but you were supposed to _anyway_! It doesn’t matter if he wants privacy, this is his life! He is our _kid_! Does that mean anything to you?! Does it?!”

”Yes, of course it does- _ow_ -“

May released her hold on the two, earning relieved huffs from them both as Peter reached his good hand up to cradle his ear. Tony eyed the kid, both sharing equal amounts of child-like shame.

”I expect full reports from Peter’s suit every night after patrol, and I want his baby monitor _on_ , always. Capiche?”

"Yes, May."

”We were just talking about that actually. All clear.”

”Oh,” May huffed out a nervous laugh, a smile slowly but surely returning. “Oh, okay, good. Great.”

She leaned down and pecked kiss after kiss onto his face, beaming. 

“Ouch, ouch, _ouch_ -“

”Oh, shut up.”

Tony watched with an amused grin as she ruffled Peter’s hair and kissed his bruised face despite his protests. Tony leaned back in his seat, perfectly content with the idea that the only way Peter would be getting hurt that day were from his aunt’s perpetuate kisses, or from Tony ruffling his curls, and not from some ugly clawed beast pulling him into oblivion, or an obese businessman with a grudge.

He would take it over losing his kid again any day, in any reality.

* * *

A few hours passed of Peter eating a cheeseburger Tony had forced onto him and May beaming at him before he dozed off for a bit, the soothing sound of rain outside calming his nerves though not nearly as much as the feeling of Tony’s thumb brushing across his knuckles.

His mentor hadn’t let go of Peter’s hand in hours, working on his Stark pad with one hand. His glasses rested on the tip of his nose as he frowned down at the screen. Peter found himself sleepily watching him from time to time, his conscious forcibly waking him to make sure Tony hadn’t gone anywhere.

May had gone to get some of his things. Ned was apparently forced to stay home by his parents but swore up and down he would be free tomorrow. All seemed right in the world.

Tony’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Peter quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep as Tony answered it, his voice a hushed whisper.

”Hello hello?” he asked in a sing-song voice. Peter resisted the urge to quirk his lip up in a smile.

” _Hey. I was just wondering, you know, when you plan on coming back to your wife and daughter? You know, just, ballpark._ ”

Sometimes, Peter _hated_ having advanced hearing.

”Well, I wasn't planning on coming back at all, but for Mo, I can make an arrangement."

Pepper was stifling a laugh on the other line before heaving a deep sigh.

" _Yeah, well, she's as done with your shit as I_ _am_."

"Oh, is she, now?"

 _"Okay, enough. You made me lose my train of thought. Anyway, uh, I just got your forwarded email. David is going to finalize everything tomorrow, I guess. Are you...sure about all of this? You're sure you want to go through with it, I mean?_ "

Peter couldn't hide the way his brown furrowed and he frowned.

"Never been more sure in my life. Except, of course, when we got hitched. But no, yeah, I'm sure, Pep. This will be good for all of us. Especially my frail old heart."

" _...Alright, Tony. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I trust you._ "

Tony hummed in thought. Peter could practically feel Tony staring at him. 

"You know, Pep, I gotta tell you. This kid kinda looks like me."

" _No, he doesn't. You just identify with him_."

"Jesus," Tony snorted. "I'm never speaking to you again if you're gonna be this... _petty_."

" _Spend some time with your wife and daughter and maybe I'll be sweeter. Love you, Tony_."

"Yeah. Jesus, okay. Love you."

The other line clicked. Tony pocketed his phone with a sigh.

"How much of that did you hear?"

Peter pried one eye open, frowning upon noticing that Tony was looking down at him with a knowing smile, pocketing his glasses. Peter let out a defeated sigh before propping himself on his elbow and adjusting to a seated position, his eyes narrowed suspiciously Tony’s way.

”All of it...Mister Stark, what was that about?”

”Just a little...relocation project I’m working on.”

”Relocation?”

Tony uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. Peter’s suspicion grew. 

“Pep and Morgan and I are moving.”

Honestly, being sucked into an interdimensional collider hadn't even made Peter's heart drop as much as _those_ words did.

"You're...what? Like, out of the cabin?"

"Well, I mean, I figured we could keep the cabin, at least. Go visit every now and again. Gerald's got to live somewhere, you know."

"Oh." Peter avoided eye contact, staring down at his broken arm resting in its sling and immediately feeling obligated to do something with the other, opting to pick again at the loose string on his blanket. "But-but where...where are you guys moving to, exactly? Like, I mean, are you moving...away?"

Tony's gaze was sympathetic, his eyes somber but his smile still beaming down at his kid, knowing and playful. Completely fitting for a man who had finally mastered the art of understanding and grasping the circumstances of his reality, after years of disassociating from it every chance he got. Peter only prayed he could accomplish such a feat himself one day.

"Pete," Tony laughed dryly under his breath. "We're moving here. To the tower."

"...That's not funny, Mister Stark."

"It wasn't intended to be, but thank you for thinking that I was lying, really."

Peter was narrowing his eyes again, though Tony wasn't letting up. His eyes continued studying every inch of his kid's bruised, precious face, watching the way Peter's face morphed from denial to confusion to shock and, finally, to delirious _relief_.

"You're moving back here? To New York?"

"Just to clarify here, this decision had nothing to do with you. Something has to be done with this big, ugly building. That's all it is, I swear to god."

Peter couldn't keep his eyes from glossing over as he huffed out a laugh.

"I mean, seriously, I cannot emphasize how little I thought of you when I made this decision. It only just now occurred to me to tell you."

Tony, logically, sensed it before it was coming, but he still let out a yell of surprise when Peter suddenly lurched forward in his bed and wrapped his good arm around Tony, tucking his face into his mentor's shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut tight as he took a fistful of Tony's sweater and breathed in a shaky inhale.

Tony was wrapping his two arms around his kid protectively before he could think anymore on it, his breath taken away as he reached a hand up to hold the back of Peter's head and pet his curls. He pressed a kiss to Peter's temple, breathing him in. 

"I'm not missing another minute, kid. I wanna be the one you come to when you're hurt."

Peter nodded frantically, his hold on Tony tightening. Tony returned the force with as much strength as he could muster.

"Or, you know, the one you come to when you need to cry. Or laugh, or eat, or sleep. I wanna be in your corner, always. No matter what."

"Okay," Peter sniffled. He hoped to god that Tony couldn't feel the hot tears seeping through the fabric of his sweater. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"What? Hey." Tony pulled out of the hug and instinctively placed one hand on his kid's shoulder and the other on his cheek, searching his eyes feverishly for an explanation. He brushed a teardrop off of Peter's face, soothing and gentle. "Kid, I don't want to hear it, alright? You don't have to apologize."

"Yeah," Peter scoffed, bringing his arm up to wipe his nose, his eyes red and puffy. "I do, Mister Stark. I'm just...I'm sorry about everything."

"What're you sorry for, Pete?" Tony's tone was defeated, resigned. He decided then and there that hearing the kid out would probably do more good than shutting him down and shooing away his apologies.

Peter didn't have to think for long before he was blurting out an answer, his mind wandering back to that abyss of stars he had found himself suspended and swept up in after the collider had exploded.

"I'm sorry for...for ignoring you."

Tony's jaw clenched, his stare on Peter locked in.

"I know you...you probably noticed, you know, when I came back, that I was...that I've _been_ kinda...private. I've been closing myself off. I didn't know why until all of this happened."

Peter took in a composing breath. He felt lost again, just as he had in the stars. He had been avoiding eye contact and fiddling with that same string on his blanket, sniffling and shrinking into himself.

"I've lost...I've lost a lot, Mister Stark. I've lost both of my parents, I've lost my Uncle, I've lost...five entire _years_ of my life. And I just..."

Tony reached a hand forward and seized Peter's in his, his gaze unwavering, resolute.

"Whenever we were fighting Thanos, I was really scared that I was going to die again. But then I remember seeing you, and I was _terrified_ that _you_ were going to die instead. You're really, really important to me, and I can't _believe_ I get to know you, and, um..."

Peter's voice broke as he squeezed Tony's hand in his. Tony reached his other hand forward and rested it on top of their intertwined ones, keeping them grounded in place.

"I guess I just thought, you know...if I just distanced myself from you, uh..."

"It wouldn't hurt as bad," Tony deduced. Peter met Tony's gaze, finally, his eyes still puffy and red-rimmed. 

"Yeah," Peter nodded. Tony couldn't tell if the kid was relieved or horrified that Tony knew exactly what he was trying to say, what he was feeling. "It wouldn't hurt as bad, uh...if you died."

Another pause. Tony could only nod, possibly the only one in the entire universe that understood exactly what Peter was feeling, who understood how difficult it was to be vulnerable after years of being isolated.

"But then, uh...Miles said something to me. Back when I was in the...the _other_ dimension, and Kingpin was about to start his collider. He told me-"

"-that I wasn't mentoring a hero," Tony concluded with a nod. Peter tilted his head. "That I was raising a son."

"...Yeah. You heard that?"

"I was there. And, well...I think I agreed with him."

"Yeah," Peter laughed for a moment, hanging his head and licking suddenly dry lips. He gave Tony's hand another squeeze. "I know it's been a long time for you, but...it hasn't been long for me. And now, it's like, everywhere I go, I see your face. And-and every night when I'm patrolling, the whole world is asking who's gonna be the next Iron Man, and I don't-"

"Shh, hey-"

"I don't know if that's me, Mister Stark. I'm not Iron Man."

"I don't want you to be."

Peter paused at that, taking in a congested breath. He watched Tony carefully, his gaze pleading for Tony to say something of comfort to him, something that would soothe the constant ache in his chest even if it was just for a moment.

"Kid, you're not Iron Man. Jesus, I mean, Iron Man isn't someone you want to try to be like. Even _I'm_ not someone you want to be like. Iron Man, I mean...that's just a man in a can. A piping hot mess, really."

Tony leaned forward, hanging his head for a moment, contemplative. He clapped his hand on top of his and Peter's intertwined ones again, recalibrating himself.

"Listen, kid...I didn't-I didn't do what I did because I wanted to create some legacy, or because I wanted to go out with a bang or have someone follow in my footsteps, no matter how...in-character that all sounds. I went in guns ablazin' because I knew you'd be here when I came out of it, dead or alive. Now, Iron Man's done. That part of my life, it's over. Suit's are destroyed, databases are in shambles. Cap is out there frolicking around in different countries with his Ken doll and their pet bird. Thor joined a galactic circus. Natasha's...well, she's figuring it all out. What I'm trying to say is, kid, we're all scattered. The Avengers, at least what we used to be, is over."

Peter nodded, his gaze downcast. Tony reached a hand forward and lifted his kid's chin with two fingers, eliciting gentle eye contact. 

"But we don't want you to replace us, buddy. We don't want you to be anyone but yourself. The world doesn't want or, hell, _need_ another Iron Man. The world needs Spider-Man."

Peter let out a breath, full of grief and lost time and tribulation and, finally, acceptance. He felt for a moment that, finally, he had grieved those five years he'd missed, had processed what he'd lost but accepted with love and admiration what he'd gained through it. He thought of what Pepper had said to him that night in the limousine with far less uncertainty and trepidation than he had when he first heard it.

_Now more than ever, people need to know they have someone they can count on to protect them._

He pursed his lips in thought before he was scooting over in his hospital bed and patting the empty space beside him. Tony's eyes softened and he complied, crawling into the small space beside his kid and wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulder, tucking him into his side.

"Do you have any advice?" Peter asked quietly. "You know, for the next...for Spider-Man, I guess."

"Don't stay out past curfew, that's a big one." Tony sighed, running his fingers through Peter's hair as he stared up at the ceiling in thought. Peter leaned into the touch. "And, uh...don't try too hard to kill what's out to kill you, kid. Especially if it's yourself."

Peter hummed. He wasn't sure if the advice would ever apply to him, but he still carried it with him years later, still thought about it with every villain he fought and every sleepless night he was forced to stare down.

As Tony and Peter held each other, eyes closed contentedly, a sight only Peter could see filtered in and out of existence at the foot of the bed. Miles, Peter B., Gwen, Peni, Noir, and Ham stood there, watching the scenario with knowing smiles and warmth in their hearts. Miles looked to Peter B. warmly, then to a sleeping Peter and Tony, thinking back to what he had told them that day at the collider. 

"Told ya."

* * *

"How many more?"

"Oh, you haven't even gotten to Morgan's room yet!"

Peter groaned as he made his way up the steps of the cabin porch, his t-shirt drenched in sweat. He turned over his shoulder with a glare as Tony watched from the bed of the moving truck with a grin, sending a half-hearted thumbs up his way. Peter could only return it sarcastically as he made his way inside.

"Hey, kid!" Pepper called from the kitchen island, gesturing beside her where Morgan's head was barely coming up over the countertop. "Mo made us some lemonade. Come take a break."

"Yeah, Petey!" Morgan rounded the counter, a wooden spoon held in her grip as she used it to point to the pitcher resting on the countertop. "Don't worry, it's not pink. It's just regular ol' lemonade."

"Oh, well, thanks," Peter laughed a bit in confusion. "You know how I feel about pink lemonade."

"I swear," Pepper laughed, pouring Peter a glass, "sometimes she just makes stuff up. Here, drink."

"Thanks, Pepper. Cheers, Mo!"

Morgan hurriedly rounded the counter again and retrieved her own glass before standing beside Peter, reaching a small hand up to clink her glass with Peter's.

"Petey! Guess what?!"

"What!"

"Daddy says we can share a room at the big tower! I can't _wait_."

"Well, that'll be fun," Peter humored. "Sharin' a room with you, just the two of us."

"Sweetie, your father lied."

"No, he didn't."

"You're getting your own room, kiddo," Peter clarified, reaching a hand down to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "A big one, too. All for yourself."

"Oh. But you're getting a room too, right?"

"Yep. So is Auntie May. But we'll only stay there sometimes."

"Oh. Like sleepovers!"

"Yep. Just like our sleepovers here, except now you'll be closer."

Morgan beamed up at him. Peter leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"Gotta get back to it. Thanks for the pit stop, Mo."

He ruffled her hair again and set his glass in the sink before making his way to the stairs, up to the guest bedroom he usually stayed in when he came over. It hadn't been touched in nearly a month, dust already collecting on the furniture like it had those five years it remained unused.

With a resigned sigh, he made his way to the bed and sat down at the foot of it, analyzing the room and every melancholy detail of it as sunlight filtered in from the blinds. The room was ridiculously underused, easily packed into at least two or three boxes. 

"This was supposed to be your room."

Subconsciously, Peter sensed him coming, but he still turned over his shoulder with a jump when he saw Tony leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed as he looked around the room fondly. The grief behind his eyes was real, but hidden to the best of his ability.

"It's a guest room."

"Used to be." Tony sauntered over to the foot of the bed, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "It's still yours when we come to visit here in the future. But it should've been yours a stupidly long time ago."

Peter said nothing, his lips resting in a thin line. Tony sighed, sitting himself down next to his kid. He sunk into the mattress before clapping a hand on Peter's shoulder, squeezing it. 

"Don't tell Mo, but I gave you the best room at the tower."

Peter scoffed, disbelieving eyes narrowed Tony's way. His lip was quirked in a smile.

"What does that even mean? It's Stark Tower. Every room there is the best room."

"You've got the best view," he clarified. "I mean, other than the living room, at least. You can see the Empire State building from your room. I'd consider that a steal, no?"

"Sure. Thanks, Mister Stark."

Tony hummed, wrapping an arm around his kid's shoulders. Peter leaned into him, closing his eyes. His senses shut off for only a moment as he let out a content breath, his heart relaxed. 

"Call me Tony."

Peter stilled at that for only a moment before he was lifting himself up off of Tony's shoulder and staring at him with a frown.

"What do you-what do you mean?"

"C'mon, kid, we're not idiots. At least, I'm not. You've only ever called me Tony, like, three times, tops. I don't think I'm asking for much when-you know what, actually, scratch that. I'm not asking you. Call me Mister Stark again and I'll disown you. Scrap you from the will. Take the suit again."

"Too soon."

"It's been almost six years."

"Okay, okay, fine. Sorry, Tony."

"See? Was that so hard?"

"...A little, yeah."

"You'll get over it."

Peter laughed as Tony was wrapping his arm around the kid again and pulling him close, breathing him in. Peter melted into it once more, neglecting both the boxes a few feet away from him and the other ninety-nine scattered about the cabin. He didn't have to worry about it then.

They had time, for a change.

"Oh, hey, kid, I've been meaning to ask."

"What's up?"

...

"When's your trip to Europe?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i listened to bless the broken road by rascal flatts (do not ask) when i was writing that reunion scene and...am i drunk or does that song low key had irondad vibes


End file.
